The Sky Serpent

There was a serpent in the sky. It surprised me at first, looming venerably over the city with its long plated neck, and reptilian snout. It either had a long forked tongue, or was breathing fire. Depending on your perspective.

Its nostrils flared, its snout turned left and right, peering down on us. Quizzically or mournfully. Depending on your perspective. 

Its body stretched out behind it. Two large leathery wings spread impressively on either side. As it soared majestically across the sky. 

The lord of air. 

I was transported off my porch, and into the sky with it. Shorn of my terrestrial prison, I flew alongside the great serpent. 

The great sky serpent knows no boundaries. It knows nothing of international laws. It knows nothing of national borders. It cares not for the whims of humankind. It only knows the freedom of the skies. Soaring and feeding and creating. 

It was hard not to envy the sky serpent. We are but mortals, confined and restricted, hour to hour, job to job, cradle to grave. 

And the sky serpent is free.

Or so I thought. 

By the time I looked up again, it was gone. Replaced by a nebulous overcast. As if it had exploded into a million tiny translucent shards. Nowhere to run. Trapped and cornered by industrial pollution. Torn asunder by millions of tiny metal bullets with engines and propellers. Poisoned by noxious gasses. 

The great sky serpent was once, but is no more. It offered me a fleeting glimpse. A brief moment of respite. Freedom amongst the clouds.  

And then I thought

Perhaps it soared. 

Away from our land.

Where it once just roamed. 

Before the white man. 

The sky was its kingdom.

The First Column