I wrote this in 2006. Copyright by me.
some of this, some of that.
Right over there, is a window.
It opens up into various times and places.
hold on tight. We are about to Lift Off !
[ poems starts below ]
[ background music: “Take my Breath Away” by Berlin ]
I remember, long ago and far away in time,
I was just a kid in my grandparent’s living room,
watching the early broadcasts,
from the Cape, over in Florida.
I watched and waited,
with slow and sometimes quickened breath,
waiting for a launch window to open,
for a satellite to be placed,
into orbit,
aboard an Atlas booster,
with an Agena rocket on top.
Then,
Ham the Chimp,
and Laika the Dog,
paving the way,
into Earth orbit,
for humans,
long years ago.
Watching the television,
and seeing the rockets,
exploding on the launch pad,
or being told by the commentator,
that the range safety officer,
had made the decision,
due to an off course rocket.
And hearing the people,
who seemed to think,
a rocket had to have air to push against,
Newton musta been laughing,
at them being wide awake, yet so asleep.
The rockets went into airless space anyway.
They just reacted,
to their engines’ mighty thrust,
they had no cares of what,
the uneducated pundits had to say.
I remember the successes,
and the crashes,
splashes,
and explosions.
Some astronauts and cosmonauts,
made it into space,
and some did not.
I remember those spaceship launches,
from long ago,
and some memory upon occasion,
of being told, “Breathe !”
by someone less inclined to watch the launch,
than me.
Aw, I knew what I was doing,
I was breathing,
just shallow-like,
I wanted the ship to make it,
where ever it was headed.
I had to listen,
no distractions,
I was a loud breather when excited back then,
now I just watch and wait,
breathing less noisily.
[background music: a spritely upbeat guitar solo ]
[ with the occasional downbeat, when necessary ]
I remember the nutters,
saying man wasn’t meant to go into outer space,
yet, they went from city to city,
without flapping their arms,
how soon they forget what came before,
aircraft. Maybe they enjoyed shank’s mare,
to get across a continent.
Them Prairie Schooner wagons didn’t build themselves,
ya know !
[ background music: full orchestration ]
I know,
someday,
my kith and kin,
and other folks as well,
will get up into orbit,
go to the other planets,
solar systems we can only guess at,
nebulae that are just a photograph,
go across the galaxy,
maybe not right away,
but someday.
I know, I know,
some folks don’t want to go.
That is up to them,
but I feel the tug,
of horizon fever,
and the call of the wild goose,
saying, “There are planets out there,
we have only dreamed of. ‘Tis time,
to get out there,
people and spaceships,
to the far horizons,
way out there,
beyond the clouds,
and sky,
of Earth.”
[ exeunt ]