United on Flight 93
“The bright-eyed daughter, the quick son.
Alphabet of names in a green field.”
The Names, Billy Collins
When I see us I see Icarus flying,
only flying,
not the fall, never the fall.
We were raised like store-bought
bread we ate, safe from spoilage,
perpetually soft,
but bereft of seasoning
life’s flavor is lost.
We must stop listening
to the echo from long ago—
our parents telling us to fly,
not too low, but never too high.
We are fledglings, but see—
our crew and cabin mates are joined
through extremity, yet
we stand poised to make this leap.
Forget escape, no dignity is won
running from a brawl.
Friends, we will strap on courage
with bare hands, the tender
and thin fuselage of our resolve.
Pennsylvania’s green cradle waits
to receive us, behind us
contrails flag our wake.
Brother, it’s still flying until the moment
we hit, even if landing ends
what we cling to.
Think ripples—
deliberate, concentric, spreading
toward the waiting shore.
We’ll defy the peril that jars
lesser women and men. Let’s roll—
for country, family and home.
We are flying, always flying.
In the retelling
we are forty falling stars.
*
Nancy Sobanik has recent poems curated by The Cafe Review, Neologism Poetry Journal, Eclectica, The Ekphrastic Review, and forthcoming in Chiron Review. A Best of The Net Pushcart nominee, she was a finalist in the 2026 Maine Writers and Publishers Alliance Maine Chapbook Series competition, and was awarded Second Place in the 2026 Charles Moore Eastport (Maine) Arts Center Prize for Poetry and anthology. Her chapbook The Unfolding, semi-finalist in the FLP 2025 Open Chapbook Competition, was published by Finishing Line Press in May 2026. She lives in Lyman, Maine, but calls the forests and mountains of Maine her home.
beautiful