A Poem by Dominic James

High Aspect Ratio

Line fall releasing light-boned folk into the air,
first solo flight, uncertain yet of pitch and yaw:

turn left and right, attempt an elementary circle
at giddy heights. Waiting for the break

lend weight to flight; wheel and bank and, at
a glance, map movement on the ground below.

On gusty days flexible aerofoils slice round
approaching Cotswold aerodromes. Two hundred feet

above the ground: Land Rush. Between the valley pigeons
and distant jets with GPS and auto-pilot:

what use a compass then? When wind springs up
from 4’o’clock on valley top, catches at your wing.

No bird to stall, tuck-in your feathered shawl
where you alight. Needs-must-adjust. Touch down

by-the-seat-of-your-pants’ low altitude manoeuvring.
Exposed to Danger-Near in terms of lift and drag

or tip and roll. Tip and Roll.
Charlie Charlie.

Dominic James lives near Seven Springs in Gloucester and follows poetry meetings along the M4 corridor. Published at home and abroad: most recently with darkpoets.club, Stand Magazine and Steel Jackdaw. Over a year of filmmaking his docudrama on Elizabeth Barrett and Robert Browning was featured at the Cheltenham Fringe Festival, 2025. He has two collections, Pilgrim Station (SPM Publications, 2016), and Smudge (Littoral Press, 2022).