Amelia Redux 1937-2012:
A Pilot's Log


Electra skyrockets
South/south-east,
Over outlier-atoll-roads:
Rain squalls mask
My Gilbert Islands safe-house
--200 miles off Jaluit--
I steer a square search
For Little Makin speck,
Baste everlasting pattern
Upon Pacific mean:
Down, across, up, across,
Down, across, up, across,
Down, across, up, across,
Down, across, up, across,
Abandon futile search,
Retrace vapor-trails north,
To Ratak's border reef,
Observe from cloud-cusp:
Uncharted coral cay,
Exposed in July low-tide

Ceaselessly
In my nightmares,
Electra spirals down
To sandspit,
Wheels-up landing,
Prop-torque spinnin'
Under pan-tropic sun 
I snatch exposed film
From cameras hid
In fuselage girth,
Place rolls in tin case,
Vacate thru cockpit hatch,
Heaps of coral-bits clatter
Like broke teacups
Under my feet
I encounter man near
Breadfruit covert,
He wears navy-blue shirt,
Fountain pens in pocket,
Black trousers, swing tie,
Nicotine yellows his fingers
I recognize Fred Noonan,
--My navigator in '37--
His lanky figure
Fluctuates in terce sun
I toss film container to Fred,
Give him my red amber nugget,
He buries metal box near
Pandanus prop-roots,
Then vanishes into
Median glare--seconds before
Japanese survey vessel--
Anchors off shore,
Sends tenders with officers
To beachhead
Admiral Soemu,
Scion of Mitsubishi,
Approaches me,
Tugs Italian squadron medal
From my shirt,
Eyes Electra for
Reverse-engineering
I am slapped, stripped,
Soldiers gasp
When they realize I'm
Female,
Cannot fathom a woman
Would pilot such a plane
They pull items from cabin,
Toss suitcases onto sand
Throw my belted raincoat toward me
So I may dress
In my nightmares
Electra spirals down
To sandspit
Ceaselessly 

Laura Stickney

photo of 1987 Marshall Islands postage
stamps illustrating Earhart's landing at
Mili Atoll