time zones pass like pickets
as Columbia swaths thru
the cold nothing
of space,

and filled hearts are beating
with hope of returning
loved ones:
family picnics, pinnings,
graduations;
now ephemeral wisps
of dreams...never to be.

as the stars stay bright
but hidden by the sun,
lives hang in destiny's scales
and low-bid mechanics carry
the trekkers high above
the hearts of hope below.

in a flash of destruction
the hearts below break
as lives are taken, loves lost
and a nation starts to heal.

12/05/2005