I went to see Rod McKuen in concert last year. I really didn’t want to. When I was young, I told myself that when I meet Rod McKuen, I would be a famous poet and he would already know who I was. It didn’t turn out that way. But I did shake his hand. And I am a poet. Maybe not famous, but I did live my whole life like a poet. And for that I am grateful. I once wrote the line, “March ended/with the skeleton/of a balsa wood kite/professing the horrors/of a high wire execution” I mean how could someone who wrote that not be famous. Go figure. But I lived as a poet and I loved as a poet and I’ve have a wonderful life. “If I could fly you know I would/but men are nothing more than men/so the best that I can do is try/and if they knock me down again/oh on broken wings or shattered dreams/I still can try to reach the sky/I may not fly but it doesn't hurt to try.”

If I Could Fly - Rod McKuen

If I could fly you know I would
beyond the mountains and the seashore
I'd soar as high as any bird
and not come down until the sunset
I'd sail the sea, I'd soar the sky,
if I could fly
I'd be a different me.

If I were stronger than I am
perhaps I'd fly a little higher
so that I'd never feel again
I lived in darkness or in shadow
I'd tell the world a soft goodbye
and then I'd turn toward the sky
if I could fly, if only I could fly.

There are some things life doesn't teach
so I try as best I know how
to grasp the apple beyond reach
and by so doing I can show how
the things I do, I do for you
if I could fly I'd do that too.

If I could fly you know I would
but men are nothing more than men
so the best that I can do is try
and if they knock me down again
oh on broken wings or shattered dreams
I still can try to reach the sky
I may not fly but it doesn't hurt to try.

If I could fly
you know I would
you know I would
If I could fly
you know I would
If I could fly....