Re-Entry

The heat shield withstands 2700 degree before it breaks

We ache and warp, but hold through suborbital flight

Ascension

It was always night up there

An endless endless night in the window

Stars on stars woven in an inky patina, lost in themselves

O the scale, the speed, the age-on-age

And I, never more human, at the window

And Earth. The world in a window reflected in a retina

Comprehension

We are plunged into day

Further from the sun, dragged down by earth’s mass

And yet closer. The sun is in our bones, we are bringing her home

Home. Smaller from above, I lost you in your context

What is a city in such endless endless..?

I am repelled and pulled back, caught in my own orbit

For I have looked into the eyes of time, beyond our beginning

And so how to return?

Suspension

The atmosphere is singing an aria

Come, she says, cut me lose, drift on and on and on

The memories bleed from me

There might be a world for me out there

I cannot return

We burn up at 2701 degrees

Re-entry

The air is dense. Ablation is done

Floating leaves on a still lake are overcome and pulled under

Lift and drag

Close your eyes and breathe in, you can see her again

And then, further from the earth than you have ever been

Re-enter the world to the sound of rain 

To the flight of birds

And turned earth

And find her again