The Launch

Stars that flicker and twinkle and burn, and
Follow the planets that lie in their wake
Aeons and aeons they solemnly turn
Know not the light they inactively make
Lie there forever, asleep in the sky
Fearing not man on his small azure globe
Onwards and onwards they blissfully fly
Don’t feel the pain of the scientist’s probe
Playful in innocence, bidden by none
To cavort and to frolic in eldritch space
Sirius, Arcturus, Betelgeuse, Sun
Each one a new name, but no unlike face
Left to their follies, the stars cannot fail
But shall do when man finds his Holy Grail

Each person under the Stygian skies
Shall weep and lament when stars start to fall
Though witness the novae birthed be demise
See that departure does not come to all
But man in his rockets, reaches out far
Seeking to penetrate black timeless spheres
Always to better just what humans are
Trying to conquer their hopes and fears
To lightless regions ‘twixt the colossi
Shuttles and rockets, machinery and man
Soaring forever into the Gods’ eye
Reaching as high as they possibly can
Admire their courage, pity the loss
They failed, though they tried, no matter the cost