Poem: Liftoff

For months, tarped and strapped
I sat on the pad at Cape Canaveral.
The NASA crew held me tethered
At T Minus Ten and counting
The last seconds before mounting
The sky. I achieved ignition
To staff the next shuttle mission
(The first true solo flight) and weathered,
With no Icarus wings, the pitch and roll
And re-entered the atmosphere charred. I flapped

Back in, soot-covered, alive and hale
And showed that it could be done
By sheer will (and some astral projection).
My aorta and skin were checked and sealed
Before I lifted off, wobbled and peeled
Away from Florida with a silent scream.
The G-force sent me into a dream
From which I emerged with a quick injection.
In seconds I had zipped past the clouds, gone
Weightless and laughing at the inhuman scale.
---o0o---