Ode To MH434

The roar of the Merlin starting
Greets the setting sun
The aircraft starts to taxi
And then begins to run
The light of early morning
Catches the spinning blades
And as she leaves the ground
It seems the present fades
She leaves the ground behind her
And heads into the blue
Paintwork catching the sunlight
Glistening as if still new
Above the trees she soars
Climbing higher yet
Banking, rolling, looping
A sight I'll not forget
And now she comes in lower
Mere feet above the ground
The Merlin roars much louder
As she banks and pulls around
Standing here and watching
Reminded of summers past
A mere machine of such beauty
But a spell she seems to cast
In times of trouble she protected us
With others of her kind
But memories are still strong
With those still left behind
The display is nearly over
And she glides in now to land
The wheels running on the grass
As she taxi's to her stand
The engine cuts to silence
The propeller slows and stops
In the stillness of the moment
The cooling engine pops
She stands a thing of beauty
A link from now to then
A perfect piece of history
That we'll never see again