Brothers

Brothers

Aeroplane Girl drank the rice wine.

It was strong and sweet.

In time it lulled her.

Soothed her body.

It had been a long day making aeroplanes.

She flew in her mind to high places.

Saw all manner of things lost and found.

Saw the warplanes fly low over the sea.

Marveled how they steeply climbed.

Flying between mountains covered with trees.

Follow my leader turning and weaving.

Was shocked when once crashed.

Physically shook when she saw the bombs explode.

Became confused when the others flew on.

Her vision faded to something anew.

Leaves formed a canopy against the sky.

A sky so blue it made her heart ache.

It was her sky where she flew her aeroplanes.

A faint breeze rustled the leaves.

There was a man, he was out of breath.

He seemed to be going somewhere.

But something happened to stop him.

His large knife cut away branches and leaves.

It hit something hard and made a loud sound.

It wasn’t a rock or fallen tree.

Something else made the noise.

The man swung his machete again.

Again it hit something else.

He stopped and looked confused.

There should be nothing here.

It wasn’t a rock outcrop.

Was it Yamashita’s gold?

No. It wouldn’t be up here.

Over a thousand metres up.

Everyone knew the gold was by the sea in a cave.

This was something else.

He looked down at what his blade had hit.

His eyes saw but his mind did not believe.

There in the undergrowth was a bent propeller blade.

Close by was an unexploded bomb!

Confused, he shook his head.

He became alert and slowly advanced.

And then he saw it…

…an aircraft.

It was smashed and broken and in pieces.

Except the back part.

This was surprisingly large.

Twin fins still stood proud against the sky.

Putting his knife down, he entered.

For the rear section had broken away.

And when inside the mountain man saw.

Saw something worse than terror acts.

Worse than shootings and bombings.

There two skeletons next to one another.

Both died as one after the crash.

The shock of almost being blown up left him.

And the amazement of finding the plane vanished.

Sadness came from nowhere.

Filling his entire being.

For no words were needed.

What lay before him said it all.

Two injured men had died together.

Both from the plane’s tail section.

He was aware others had died.

The mountain man knew he was the first here.

That nobody else knew of this.

He left the plane and his journey to the summit.

People must know of this.

He wondered who the men were.

What were their names?

On the island of war was something from another war.

Found by a simple mountain man.

Sadness filled Aeroplane Girl.

She snapped out of trance and drank more wine.

Her visions left her stunned.

They were from centuries ago.

She resolutely promised herself:

I will only ever fly my aeroplanes.

Never use them for war myself.

Not even a Gryphon.

Only for flight…