This is my favorite aviation themed poem. It was written by John Gillespie Magee, Jr.
I plan to have it read at my Life Celebration after I have moved on to my Father's Kingdom.
In September 1941, Magee was training in England flying the Supermarine Spitfire. After a high-altitude test flight climbing to around 30,000 feet, he was so moved by the experience that he composed the sonnet almost immediately. He wrote it on the back of a letter to his parents, noting that he had started a poem and "would like to complete it." The poem was essentially finished in one sitting, inspired directly by that single flight.
Tragically, Magee never saw the poem become famous. On December 11, 1941 — just three months after writing it — he was killed in a mid-air collision over Lincolnshire, England. He was only 19 years old.
His parents shared the poem, and it quickly circulated among aviators and the public. It was read at memorial services, published in newspapers, and embraced by the aviation community worldwide.
