Myth is the public dream, and dream is the private myth. - Joseph Campbell
Today's post begins with a quote from Reuters writer Irene Klotz' article headlined "Shuttle soars toward space station," about last night's successful launch of STS-116.
"You've got a lot of smiling faces up here," Discovery commander Mark Polansky radioed to Mission Control in Houston as the shuttle slipped into orbit.
In their first four hours in space, the astronauts ran through a checklist of tasks, including opening the cargo bay doors and testing the shuttle's robotic arm, before going to sleep.
"Sweet dreams in space," astronaut Megan McArthur at Mission Control in Houston told the Discovery crew.
Megan McArthur's benediction inspired my poem:
Sweet Dreams in Space
Out of night and a fiery plume the little crew streaks skyward.
A world goes along, holding breath, not talking, nonverbal.
We are speechless in the face of the power and promise
Of soaring around and around in a black and white missle.
Vicarious astronauts look to poets to be descriptive wordsmiths.
Imagine a real dream where you space walk - a journey mythic.
What can one say? Is verse sufficient to describe an ion stream,
Or odyssey's men and women asleep as their hammocks careen?
"Sweet dreams in space," Megan soothes as she tucks you in.
We join her. We hope you rest well after launch noise and din.
We'll all be quiet and let you sleep. Now get down to dreaming,
As your missile fired chariot circles blue earth's orbital arena.
Copyright by Carol Gee, December 10, 2006
My topical post today at South by Southwest is about NASA.
Tags: dreams and the supernatural news poetry technology writing and poetry space
My "creative post" today is a cross post of this poem at Southwest Blogger.
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