airplane tendencies

 You were spinning ice in a plastic cup,

poking the stir straw through the holes

in the center of the ice

and flinging water in small specs

across the airplane aisle.

You know, they tell you not to smoke on airplanes,

but in the bathroom, just above the “No smoking” sign,

there is an ashtray.

And they turn off the seatbelt signal but tell you to

“remain seated with your seatbelt fastened”.

So you fidget and you sit,

and you stir the ice

and focus on the sound of it

over the whirring engines and beeping signals.