Slim Lindbergh strides knee-deep in ticker tape,
he invented mile-high celebrity—couples
at the Savoy swing the Lindy hop, leap
aerials every night, New York to Paris. Not for me.
Slim and I barnstormed Colorado long ago,
I can do distances too, long distances, fly
around the world in stages, four thousand,
five thousand miles nonstop.
Have to buy a Bellanca. Color it red,
like the Standards we flew in the circus.
Modify the tanks, carry extra fuel. Cut weight,
cut drag. Design a gadget to jettison
landing gear after take-off. Raise $110,000.
Pitch Hughie Herndon, his mother
could stake us. Name the ship Alice? And pitch
Veedol Motor Oil. Call the ship Miss Veedol?
Mark up the charts.
Leave my shoes behind.