Stratospheres

"Freedom is a legless bird who flies high in shimmering shades of blue on wings that flash and flicker in sunlight, pursued by relentless squadrons of angry eagles, always much too slow, stupid creatures of the hot, wet, heavy thicknesses of air beneath soaring, streamlined, legless birds who nest on mountaintops or the extreme edges of cliffs or the cold, white tips of towers and teach their young to fall out fearlessly and catch the wind on shining wings, strong with pointed beaks and eyes sharp to see all the struggling shapes below all the infinite light above me."