Blue Angels

Annapolis, MD commissioning week
it’s a tradition of the US Naval Academy
the Blue Angels entertain, show off skills,
an hour of stunt flying along the Severn River

The crowd settles in with chairs, blankets, sandwiches, drinks
all eyes towards the wonders of the sky,
listening for the roar, watching for jets to form a pattern
arranged in close proximity

Expectations are high as Big Bertha appears
to lead off the show,
rumbles so loud the tender ears of babies and young children
are protected with headphones

The blast of engines reverberating in your chest
you hear them before you see them
floating together in perfect formation
entering from six directions operating in unison

Children point, scream with delight, “There they are!”
tracking the path above
sometimes performing in twos or fours
plumes of exhaust trailing behind creating art

When they fly low the helmets of the pilots
of these speed machines can be seen,
cameras pointing, trying to capture the moment,
snag a piece of excitement
claim a forever likeness of this hypnotic motion.

About the Poem

Visitors and locals look forward each year during Commissioning Week to watching the air show performed by the Blue Angels, the flight demonstration squadron of the US Navy.

About the Author

Lois Perch Villemaire resides in Annapolis, MD where she is inspired by the charm of a colonial town and the glorious Chesapeake Bay. After retirement from a career in local government, she concentrated on her love of writing. Dabbling in family research led to memoir and creative nonfiction. Her prose and poetry have appeared in a number of journals and anthologies such as Ekphrastic Review, Flora Fiction, and One Art: A Journal of Poetry. Lois was a finalist in the 2021 Prime Number Magazine Award for Poetry. She enjoys yoga practice, amateur photography, and raising African violets.