Flight
by Angela Lemond

	Ever since I was a little kid I been wanting to fly. GO... GO... 
GO... Where? To the moon ... to the stars .. Maybe to Atlanta. I hear it's 
nice down there. Black people running a whole city, that's what they tell 
me.
	I been everywhere. Detroit, Chicago, Dallas, New Orleans, I've seen 
them all ... in my mind. I got a way a doin' that, you know? Just shut 
everybody out, close my eyes and fly. I can actually see myself go. Not on 
an airplane like them squares do it. I actually open my window, spread my 
wings and fly.
	I been flying for as long as I can remember. It started in my 
dreams. Kind of a free fall. Just wafting through the air like a balloon. 
Yeah, that's what it was like, a big ol' balloon floating through the 
clouds. Didn't have no real direction then. I just kinda went wherever the 
wind took me. But like I said, that was in my dreams. So's I couldn't 
control where I was going. Those dreams were nice enough. Just me and the 
sun, the birds and the clouds. I can still remember the feeling of the sun 
kissing my cheeks, the rays spraying a rainbow of colors through my eyelids 
and into my mind. I think I might of got too close to the rays in those 
dreams. They did something to me. It was like those colors opened my mind. 
Ever since that one dream I been flying.
	I started off just taking small flights around my room. I would only 
do it when I was alone. I didn't want to scare my momma. Life's been tough 
enough on her as it is. What would she think if she look up and see her 
little boy gliding around the house? I tell you what she think; she think 
she lost her mind, that's what.
	So I kept my trips confined to my room. Until one day I just needed 
me some breathing space. I couldn't find enough space in my room. I 
couldn't feel the air. There weren't no air to breathe in that house. I had 
to open that window and jump. I could hear my own screams in my ear. I saw 
nothing. My eyes were shut tight, but then slowly the rays of color 
splashed on my face, piercing through my mind. that's when I know I could 
really fly. That ol' sun was whispering in my ear, blowing its warm light 
on my cheeks, kissing my eyes. Man I was flying.

	That was the first time. There have been many journeys since then. I 
go anywhere now, everywhere now. I don't even hide it no more. These people 
know about me.

	First I fly low to the ground, just about at eye level. Humph. you 
should see them people's faces .. a black man floating on air? That's why I 
coast low, so they can see me. Let them know--THIS NIGGA CAN FLY! "Watch 
out man. Don't get in my way. If you do, you gonna get hit" After I let a 
few folks see me, throw `em for a little look, I go up higher. I go 'bout 
where my pigeons fly. Yeah, I'm on my way now. Not quite to the clouds ... 
yet. But I can see `em right over my head. It's cool up here, real cool. 
The air is so clean. Now I can breathe. yeah, I'm lookin' down on that ol' 
smog. It can't touch me now. I could kiss the sun, if I wanted to.
	I'm on my way. Today I'm goin' to the Carolinas--them there Geechie 
Islands. I hear them's a sight to see. Black people runnin'; that ol' 
island. I even hear they walkin' together--man and spirit. Them dead people 
love that island so much, they don't leave when they put to rest. They just 
come right back and go `bout they business. Now my feelin' is they ain't 
goin' to no white man's heaven. Heaven is right here on earth for them .. 
walking on an island that's all they own.
	That's why I'm goin' to see `em today. Things been coming down on me 
today. It's too hot in these projects. Them building's so close together; 
they squeeze all the air out. I ain't wanna go to work today. The ol' man 
got it bad on my ass so's I can't go. I ain't gone look at that face today. 
My ol' lady ain't wanna act right. So like I said, things been comin' down 
on me bad today. So's I went up on the roof, asked my brother bird which 
way to dem Carolinas ... I took a deep breath and now I'm fallin' ... 
fallin'; ... flying. I'm flying. I'm flyin' I'm on my way.