Soar: The Story of a Kite – T. Calah

A kite is a wonderful toy,
When it’s up in the sky,
It flies to great heights.
But it cannot fly alone.

When it’s up in the air,
With only string holding it there,
It looks to us so light,
Though it sails with all its might.

The wind will whip and pull and whistle,
The kite won’t give up fighting,
But just when things get most exciting,
The string pulls it back to the ground.

It tries to fly up high,
Up to the clouds in the sky,
But it’s held down by its string,
Like an anchor to its wings.

It tugs and pulls with all its will,
Till at last it breaks away,
But off its string it’s not free to stray,
It falls back down into a puddle.  

The kite is tied back on its string,
And once again it can bring,
Joy to all who want to fly,
By climbing up ever so high.  

Let us learn from this kite,
Though we may want to fight,
Sometimes the string is all
That lets us soar instead of fall.  

T. Calah is a junior high student. He enjoys history, reading, and writing. This piece was inspired by pieces he has read about the joy of flying a kite on a summer day. He found the theme of something that limits freedom but is necessary for function an interesting idea to explore in the context of flying a kite.