'angels don't always fly well'

'angels don't always fly well' timothy r gates, 8/31/2010



Near the ground,

falling to fallen

free will, it's called

'just a novice,' he says

'i meant to do it,' she says.



Angels do soar,

buzz like WWII Tigers

glide like the Wright brothers' planes –

the ones that worked –

and, this too, crash

like shot apart planes.



Angels slide across time

into the arms of

weeping or laughing little ones –

sometimes they're late

arriving only to carry them home,

watching their families mourn

in their hell to heaven.



Fairies' impishness,

has an embrace easier to grasp,

no pretense to watch over each hair

no pretense to rejoice at our repentance

no pretense to embrace the human-divine,

only be, just being, fairies –

but not imps,

no pressing for timeliness.



Near the ground,

smashing, smearing, face pushed to squished

free and will, an illusion

save for those days you choose to crash:

angels don't always fly well.

for more of the Angel Poetry collection: http://www.facebook.com/timothy.r.gates