What Matilda Wanted
Port Matilda, Pennsylvania
Given the choice,
I would rather
float than fall
through life, Abbas
Ibn Firnas
over achieving Atlas,
kite on a string
than a swinging
wrecking ball,
all of that 5o-foot wingspan,
nothing of dense silica.
I’d rather hover
than hurtle. Gravitas
is overrated, muscle
an albatross.
And while the brick
boasts such endurance
under pressure,
over air it is out
of options,
plummeting
like a scandal, like
a Wall Street sell-off,
a suicide note
found after the
fact. A feather,
however,
has time, oscillating
in the uneven descent,
to take in the view,
to consider what there
is to do. A glider
riding the ridge lifts
bellowing up Bald Eagle’s
flanks can stay aloft
for hours on end
without an engine,
without fuel,
skimming atop
the troughs of air
like water striders
tiptoeing across
Laurel Run. Forge
me magnesium
instead of iron,
ballet shoes over
steel-toed boots,
translucent skin
on brittle bones.
I reject the
rolling stone,
the packed gunpowder
in the chamber
of power,
the concrete
divider at the split
in the road.
If you must name a town
after me, forego
adjectives
that might not come true.
Cut me in half with
a railroad track
that takes away as
much as it brings back
in the easy manner of wind.
Pin my legacy on
a small Gypsy Vanner,
and I will be happily
carried along in
the shadow of mountains
away from the asphalt
of aspiring cities like
Pittsburgh and Philly.
Instead of a mantle,
a basket of apples.
Better than an Esquire’s
heavy overcoat,
give me instead,
won’t you, please,
Mr. Rogers’ sweater.
NOTES
Abbas Ibn Firnas is credited as the first human to achieve sustained flight. In 875 AD at the age of 70 Firnas constructed his own flying machine with a bamboo frame, covered with a silk cloth and sewn-in eagle feathers. Witnesses say he stayed aloft 10 minutes but had a rough landing in which he was injured. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWyphm72Tq4
50-foot wingspan: Glider planes can have different wingspans according to class. The Standard Class wingspan is 15 meters or 49.2 feet (from the FAA Regulations handbook).
Dense silica: The McFeely Brick Company, started by the grandfather of the famous children’s TV host, Mr. Rogers, had a plant in Port Matilda until 1958. They made vulcan silica fire bricks for the inner lining of glass-melting furnaces and incinerators.
Bald Eagle’s flanks: Seven or so miles from Port Matilda stands Bald Eagle Mountain. Its geography is well-suited for created ridge lifts, making it a prime spot for glider flying. At the base of the mountain is the Ridge Soaring Gliderport.
Laurel Run is a tributary of the Lackawanna River than runs through Port Matilda.
Magnesium is one of the lightest commercial metals, while iron is one of the heaviest.
Railroad track: Port Matilda is built along the Nittany and Bald Eagle Railroad, a line that is part of the North Shore Railroad System.
Gypsy Vanner: A few miles of east of Port Matilda the Buffalo Run Farm specializes in breeding and raising Gypsy Vanner horses. http://www.buffalorunfarm.com/
A basket of apples: famous in Portilda is Way Fruit Farm featuring a wonderful variety of fruit harvests, not the least being apples. https://www.wayfruitfarm.com/seasonal-fruits
Esquire’s thick overcoat: In 1850 Squire Clement Beckwith formed the town-plot of Port Matilda, naming the fledgling town after his eldest daughter Matilda. The title of Squire recognized his role as a Justice of the Peace for many years.
Won’t you please: a nod to the introduction song composed and sung by Fred Rogers for his children’s TV show Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood. https://misterrogers.org/videos/wont-you-be-my-neighbor/