Steel Can
by D. Nordling

 

Alone I drift
hearing hissing
red lights flicker
in a constellation
I never wanted to see

becoming uniform, cold
my steel collar gathering frost
no longer a struggle
for rarefied control
moon passing my window
in a long clumsy arc

repeat the checklist
for the last time
thoughts fading
to the Florida sun

in vain do I transmit
coordinates and status
the mission has failed
another orbiting graveyard plot
but I die
the hero.

 

 

Poem © 2004 by D. Nordling d_nordling@yahoo.com

Artwork © 2004 by Leo Lin http://members.rogers.com/gaiagear/main.htm




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