A Line of Fire

About this piece

A banking fighter jet occupies the lower middle of an expansive blue sky, its angular surfaces partly veiled by white vapor. A burning flare draws a bright counterpoint below, while its smoke trail rises through the composition and unfurls into loose curls above. Sunlight defines the aircraft’s metallic planes against the softer, dissolving forms surrounding it.

The story

On this January day, the sky holds a brief geometry of metal, smoke, and fire. The jet turns left across the blue, its sharp edges appearing and disappearing beneath pale vapor. Below it, a flare burns with a small, fierce orange light. Its long white thread loosens overhead, where the air begins to unravel the shape of the moment.