The Red Eye to Tahiti

If you take the red eye to Tahiti
You can be there by last week

Sipping drinks on the beach
Dancing knee-deep in warm sand
Sleeping in a different hotel room each night

But first, the red eye there

Where the man next to you
Tells stories about the lighthouses
Shining beams up
Underneath the wings of the plane

He has a bed and breakfast in Baltimore
And you can lay in bed there all day
While people bring you bacon
And make you feel at home

The woman next to you is wearing a wedding dress

She's going right from the airport to the altar
And she keeps the dress on
So that she doesn't get cold feet

She wants the dress to feel like a second skin
Like a part of who she is
So that perhaps her marriage will feel the same

Toddlers run down the aisles of the plane
Followed by dogs, followed by bigger dogs
Followed by the parents and the toddlers
And the parents of the parents

The pilot recites Beatles lyrics over the loudspeaker
And cafeteria food is served
Similar to what you had in high school

Oh, and bacon

They serve bacon too

There's ballroom dancing in first class
And swing dancing in the coach
And down below in the cargo hold
People are popping out of their luggage
And creating whole new dances
That will be performed on the tarmac
As soon as the plane lands

Oxygen masks come down
And pump out the smell of roasted almonds
And summer heat on city streets
And a fireplace during the holidays

There's no need to use the masks
But there's no reason not to either

The plane hits a patch of turbulence
And gravity suspends itself

Stewardesses float past you
Offering club soda and summaries
Of the in-flight movies

Complete with spoilers
That give away the twist ending

A movie with a surprise
Is no good for a plane ride anyway

One day you will land in Tahiti
But not today
Maybe last week
But not today

You are sailing more than you are flying
Over coasts and craters
Oceans and canyons
Mountains and miles of nothing

Nothing at all

It's a flight in the dark
To paradise

And it's comforting to know
That you can start a new day
And a new life
At the exact same time

The time change will set you back a bit
And your bags will never be seen again
But you will arrive to see a morning sun
And your eyes will see nothing but light

So you try to get some sleep
As the toddlers each fall asleep
In the aisles
And the stewardesses link arms
Like a circle of skydivers

You heard you would be tired
But you're not, not really

You look out the window
And there's your face
Looking back at you

As if you're a cloud
Or a star
Looking down
Upon the world