A not-so-new poem

Here's another one that very few people have seen before. I edited it slightly tonight; it's the first I've touched it since around May 2006. Thoughts welcome, as always.

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Cogitate on a Plane

In this aerodynamic time machine
The spectrum stretches across the firmament
And I glide from day to darkness –
Two hours forward –
Yet not once do I feel like I’m wasting time.

Time to play the game:
The chess board miles below is vacant, but I can imagine
Your pawns falling to mine,
And willingly I sacrifice a knight and rook
Because the Queen is who I want.

Soaring into the future
And though it all turns black,
(The game below me called on account of darkness)
Up here there is no rain
Since I’m above that sort of thing.

And you should be, too,
Because I can always forgive
No matter how many times
You take advantage because I have no umbrella
When you know I hate being wet.

With light slipping off the end of the earth,
I surge into the sable sky
Ready to plunge into the embers
Of this Midwest metropolis
To check for you in the heart of the night.