One

The flight attendants are screaming

and there's no one in the cockpit.

A man chants the in flight menu loudly like a prayer,

another runs towards the exit.

Mommy, is everything ok?

A young girl asks, her mother

filling out the landing form in silence.

The right engine catches fire, then the left.

Lines and shapes turn into buildings, roads, cars.

The local time is 5PM and the weather is fair.

The girl shakes her mother but she won’t respond.

An old woman has collapsed in the aisle.

A few are in the brace position.

The seatbelt sign has come on.

Many languages are being spoken,

but all incomprehensibly.

The only thing heard is fear.

The only thing known is death.

I hold my breath, and close my eyes,

reminding myself that the chances

of dying in an aircraft

are a million to one.

A million to one,

A million to-