[after the Woody Guthrie song]

Roll on, Columbia, roll on,
Roll on, Columbia, roll on,
Our prayers were all with you that sad Texas morn,
As you roll on Columbia, roll on.

You seven were just sixteen minutes from home,
When a flash and a boom shook the blue morning’s dome,
Your meteor trail shocked us all to the bone,
Won’t you roll on, Columbia, roll on.

Your landings, routine for so many-odd years,
That our confidence soon put away all our fears.
Now debris rains to earth, and now so do our tears,
Won’t you roll on, Columbia, roll on.

You accepted the risks as you ventured on high,
Now you’re burned in our brains like that streak in the sky.
Now we honor you heroes, as half-mast flags fly,
Won’t you roll on, Columbia, roll on.

Roll on, Columbia, roll on,
Roll on, Columbia, roll on,
Your spirit will turn all the darkness to dawn,
Ever roll on, Columbia, roll on.

02/02/2003

Author's Note: (In memory of the seven brave astronauts of Space Shuttle Columbia, Feb. 1, 2002. The lyric is adapted from a song of the same name by Woody Guthrie, in honor of the Columbia River and the hydroelectric dam work project there in the 1930's.)

Posted on 02/03/2003
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