The Flight (Poem-14)

the flight to Neverland...

On a cold and rainy October night

The pilot made haste for flight

To his origin, ("Neverland", he said)

And then soared into the night.

It had been several years since

The pilot left Neverland

And although he seemed to move on

The townspeople deemed him sad.

He never spoke much about the place,

Yet would often dream about

His youthful years in its greens

And the liveliest folk he'd never seen.

His dreams gave off hues of grief

But nought gave off his face,

Whenever the young man would be asked

On cue, his heart would race.

He didn't have the brightest years

Back in those spritely greens

He lost more than since, has gained,

And yet, there, he longs to be.

A little while after his ascent, that day

There came a rapping from behind

When he ventured to see, who the causer was,

Was appalled to see a mere child.

A tousled boy he was, and nothing more;

The astonished lent him a hand

The pilot asked, "So, where to?"

The boy softly said, "Neverland."

The pilot, in awe, formed a smile

He welcomed the boy on board

But before another word was said

The little one vanished into the unknown.

The pilot's teenage passed just as quick

Albeit, not calm or smooth

He didn't like much of those years 

And say more, he never would.

As the flight neared mid-way

The pilot flinched at some knocks

The dazed young man ventured, again

And was in for another shock.

On the top of the cockpit cage

Stood an older youth, like the child

The pilot blinked once, then twice,

His vision wasn't guiled.

The pilot, still shook, but careful still

Asked the young teen, "Now, where to?"

Passive, but obediently still

"to Neverland", said the youth.

In a dilemma, the puzzled formed a smile

And opened the welcome hatch,

But to his dismay, and yet once more

He vanished, making a perfect match.

Now this part we remember, for the pilot had said,

"Neverland was never all pretty",

"Too many wrongs to my name, o'er there

It caused me to leave the city..."

"An endless cycle of grief, yes it was..

Disguised in light and lush greens,

But, once, too close to that land I was

Almost pulled by its vines, underneath."

"Inside, in flesh, it's a hellscape

Often you'd say, 'hell hath no such fury'"

We asked, "Then why, oh why, do you return?"

He said, "For a second chance", and we'd worry.

For several years since, and several hence,

These second chances came too often

To the obstinate and poor, old pilot

There seemed to be no options.

The pilot, more than halfway there,

Had almost settled for a little nap,

But to his surprise, and as if on cue

He heard a single, but heavy, tap.

This time, the surprise hit differently

Since there was no one outside the plane

But someone still spoke to him

And he was in the mirror, his own face.

He covered his mouth in shock

And watched as his face spoke, ever so bland;

This time, even before the pilot could ask,

It chanted, "to Neverland, Neverland, Neverland"

It didn't vanish, not then, not later

It kept chanting the destination;

The pilot, now furious, even mad

Ignored the voice with resignation.

In the morning, the sun shone bright

As the bright and lush greens came into view

He'd been here a hundred times before, yet

The pilot acted as though it was new.

The landing space was quite small

But it didn't matter to the man,

He couldn't wait to meet all the townsfolk

The lively men that he never had.

And as he set foot on the ground,

Just like before, he was engulfed by the land,

And it pierced him hard, as he realized

That all those visions had told him to "never land".

-Armaan Kothare

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Explained :

While I would love to hear your understanding of this poem's significance, I'd also like to put forth my own intended message and theme; according to me, this poem revolves around the central theme of "repeating the same mistakes and expecting a different outcome". As is observed in the poem, the pilot is a character that keeps returning to the fictitious town of "Neverland", despite experiencing so many times that that place brought nothing but misery, at best. But in spite of his prior experiences, he continues to keep a positive will and makes the same mistake, over and over again, only to get trapped in a deceitful cycle. 

The visions that the protagonist sees throughout the poem, i.e.- the little boy, the older youth and the reflection of the pilot in the mirror, are all past versions of the pilot, stemming from the damages that he has sustained over the years. Each one warns him to "never land", but when one is headstrong, as is the pilot, one may misinterpret warning signs, and therefore, hears what he wants to hear. Deep in his heart, the pilot knows that he shouldn't go back to Neverland, but the voices he hears make him fixate on staying in that loop, and the poem ends with him falling for the same trap yet again.

The main message, according to me, is "positive wills and outlooks are definitely good, but blindly making the same decisions, over and over, won't result in any changes."

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I hope you liked reading this one! It had a rather different theme, but I wanted to explore it, nonetheless. Feel free to let me know any thoughts, suggestions, your interpretations of this poem,  or any sort of feedback in the comments section below, and keep reading!!

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