Jetliner by Naoshi Koriyama

“Jetliner”

Now he takes his mark

At the farthest end of the runway

Looking straight ahead, eager, intense

With his sharp eyes shining

He takes a deep, deep breath

With his powerful lungs

Expanding his massive chest

His burning heart beating like thunders

Then… after a few… tense moments… of pondering

He roars at his utmost

And slowly beings to job

Kicking the dark earth hard

And now he begins to run

Kicking the dark earth harder

Then he dashes, dashes like mad, like mad

Howling, shouting, screaming, and roaring

Then with a most violent kick

He shakes off the earth’s pull

Softly lifting himself into the air

Soaring higher and higher and higher still

Piercing the sea of clouds

Up into the chandelier of stars

-Naoshi Koriyama

In this poem, Naoshi Koriyama portrays a large and powerful Jetliner as a simple runner or long jumper. It has been disputed if Naoshi is really speaking of a long jumper, and not a runner, in this analysis I hope to prove that Naoshi is really speaking of a long jumper starting his run and lunging himself into the air. I will also break down each individual stanza and present its Imagery and compare the Jetliner to the Long jumper.

Now he takes his mark

At the farthest end of the runway

Looking straight ahead, eager, intense

With his sharp eyes shining

In this stanza he shows the runner’s thoughts and intense few moments before he begins to run. The runner waits impatiently, looking at his mark a few meters away, wa...