dumbfoundry

When passengers on a recent Edmonton-to-Toronto flight got settled in their seats, they were offered the usual snacks and beverages. Later, a striking woman with a mellifluous voice took the microphone to read poetry aloud before querying whether anyone would like her to compose a personal poem.

Hands shot up, and Wendy Morton, a.k.a. WestJet's poet of the skies, was hard at work again, chatting with passengers for inspiration and then scribbling verses about life, love and adversity on sheets of lined paper as the plane winged its way over Saskatchewan, Manitoba and the Great Lakes. [...]

The resident of Sooke, B.C., isn't a regular fixture on WestJet, but whenever she does fly - a few times a year - the airline provides her with free passage in exchange for her labours. [...]

Here is a poem written by poet Wendy Morton aboard a recent WestJet flight for passenger Linda Konrad:

Water Polo

Her nieces never touch bottom,
tread water the whole game:
with grace and strength.
They cry when they win,
when they lose.
It's a watery metaphor
for their lives,
getting them ready
for the real world,
where they will tread water,
weep.

This entry was posted by eeksypeeksy on Wednesday, May 12, 2004 at 8:59 AM. You can skip to the end and leave a response.