For the Cosmonauts
We have all floated between two worlds,
orbiting at dawn's precise tangent
in a capsule held static
between life and the black eye of heaven.
From the cosmonauts we learned
our pulse-checking patience, joy of small coffee,
necessary omission of guilt. After a short night
we awake sunlit in sunlight, the station
witnessing that it is always sunrise somewhere.
We carry on, waiting to be called home,
shielding our bleary eyes from the sun.
Soon the new day will come. For now
we watch, await signals, judge and respond.
Boldly the Earth tightens its tether
and the cold cracks the glass with ice.
Now the distance and difference
between us and the world, this measured space,
is the same shade as vodka, vodka, vodka.
(Evan Rail
www.arspoetica.sk/2005/?ucastnici&rail)
released August 1, 2007