Suborbital Flight

With exercise I get a lift;
they call it runner’s high.
Yet you can get too much of it;
of that I can’t deny.

I run to keep my spirits up;
I run with all my might.
But when endorphins flood my brain
I’m higher than a kite.

Once when running down the road
out in the countryside,
I felt the runner' high come on
and went up for a ride.

I bumped into a flock of geese
in flight to Myers Lake.
Relaxed in semi-state of sleep
while very much awake.

Then higher in the atmosphere
I saw a jet go by.
I coveted the way it flew,
yet I knew how to fly.

Ascending to the stratosphere
the air was rather thin.
I cherished every breath I took
as ice formed on my chin.

I recognized the curve of Earth
and saw the glare of sun.
Within my mind I heard alarms,
but I was having fun.

I pitched head first to make descent
like spaceships heading home.
It then occurred to me my mind
had ample room to roam.

Reentry took the best of me
as I lay on the ground.
At first when I had taken off
I thought that it was sound.

So in the hospital I winked
at nurses on their shift.
When asked if I enjoyed my run,
I said, “It gave me lift.”

40 Lines
Writer’s Cramp
8-15-19