The Captain

[wasellajam]

Hi Rob, I have no constructive crit so I'll just let you know why.

The cockpit was a migraine of flashing lights -- Strong opening image, different than a passenger view.
Dad with his headset on, pointing at the jump seat
where Muhammed Ali sat on his way to Manila. Good use of an event to set the time frame.
Dad had the voice of a hypnotherapist:
"This is your captain speaking...
when I count to three..." Strong audio to add to the visual.

His tone was more animated when I'd ring the nursing home.
He'd say he was staying in a hotel in Tokyo or Hong Kong
on a layover between flights.
I'd ask: "Where are you flying to next, Pops?" Love the willingness to go along for the trip, this is a gift to both parties that many can't pull off.
He'd pause for a moment as if checking his roster -- Love the silence of his pondering.
"I'm landing in Sydney at zero seven hundred."
In those last months, with him in his cockpit
me on the jump seat, we crossed the globe together.
While the last lines finish the story well and their tone suits the poem it's possible you could say it in a more succinct yet novel way. Or not.

Thanks for posting, a good read.