Aloft

Whispers of a wind to lift you off the ground
The breath of air that'll take you where it will
This flight of fancy carries you until you know for sure
There's no going back
To where you were before
Now you've lost the knack

With best-laid plans you once flattered to deceive
Of fatted calf were intent to eat your fill
Perpetual motion carries you but still you know for sure
That you can't keep track
And you can't keep score
There's no going back any more

You were tethered
Eyes and ears peeled tightly on the ground
Wondering whether
What goes up is certain to come down
Steady measures
Learn to take the whole thing in the round

Keep on talking
For that's all that's keeping you aloft
It was awkward
Holding in your breath before the off
Now you travel, though you're not so eager to arrive
On the journey what respect you earn is token
Faith in progress goes unspoken
And that's all that's keeping you alive

And you know it's not the going, it's the getting there
That'll slow you, so you really can't remember where
You were heading when you started
All was eloquence but now it's all hot air

Draw breath in apprehension
No safety features left in place
Your sentence in suspension
You're clinging on, a basket case
You didn't want to tell me
About your secret passion
What dummy would you sell me
With such unfashionable haste?

Hold it steady
Can't afford to let direction drift
Are you ready?
The denouement when it comes is swift
Are you joking? Were you hoping for some jolly japes?
Eat those words or spit them out before they choke you
Failing progress
From this moment
I don't see you making your escape

And you know it's not the going, it's the getting there
That'll get you, that'll get you, no-one lets you
Know you're slowly in the process of forgetting where
You were heading when you started
All was eloquence
Or was it all hot air?

So the pay-off's due
Now you've told your tale
All the words you used
Are exhaled