To an Astronaut

You’re going to die up there.

In the Big Darkness, with

Pin-wheeling galaxies that

Can only glare at each other

Over unnecessary distances.

You’re going to die.

The pebble earth won’t

Bother to hug your body

In orbit, won’t allow you

To burn up gloriously. Your

Goldfish suit will gently

Spin you through

Stellar eternity in God’s

Silence.

Un-weathered in the vacuum

You will become an

Unseen exhibit in an unending museum, a

White sarcophagus hieroglyphiced

N.A.S.A. hiding you

From the increasingly distant

Ra.

You’re going to die up there.

The main photo above, "Tropical Storm Arthur (NASA, International Space Station, 07/02/14)” is copyright (c) 2014 NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center and made available under a Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.0 license