EIGHT HAIKU for CHALLENGER
by
JONATHAN V. POST
March 1986
The Commander
--------------
"My kind of weather,
What a great day for flying!"
Clear cold winter dawn.
The Last Breakfast
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Breakfast for seven
followed by white-frosted cake
names drawn in icing
The Launch
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Cape Canaveral
icicles melt: sudden dawn
of "Rocket Summer"
The Shuttle
----------
Painted bird rising,
rolling upside down, so bright
against the blue sky
The Last Words
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"... go at throttle up."
"Roger, go at throttle up."
And then: explosion!
The Fireball
-----------
Scorpion of smoke
Two flame-tipped claws, shrapnel legs
above the ocean
The Promise
-----------
After silence, tears.
One right way to honor them:
We will reach the stars
The Crew
---------
Smith, Onizuka,
McAuliffe, Scobee, Resnik,
McNair, and Jarvis.
Copyright 1996, 1997 by Emerald City Publishing.
All rights reserved. May not be reproduced without permission.
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it is transmitted unaltered, in its
entirety, and without charge.