Originally published in Planet Magazine No. 41 (March 2004).
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
Artwork © 2004 by Leo Lin http://members.rogers.com/gaiagear/main.htm
