V2 The Man who Fell to Earth

Thirty kilometers above the earth
he jumped into thin air. No fear
no sense of falling, only the loneliness of birth
and below, the irresistible blue sphere
pulling him home at the speed of sound – the Happy Idea

forecast by Einstein, who never felt the thrill
of weightlessness (he was a different sort of pioneer)
of gazing up at a silver membrane, helium-filled
and shooting into emptiness to disappear.
Now he enters denser atmosphere

slows, pulls the cord, breathes a sigh
floats towards the bed of pillowed cloud
the strangest angel, whispering goodbye
to space, haloed by the sun, unbowed
yet holding on to all he felt, all he was allowed.



V1

Thirty kilometers above the earth
he jumped into thin air. No fear
no sense of falling, only the loneliness of birth
and below, the irresistible blue sphere
pulling him home at the speed of sound – the Happy Idea

forecast by Einstein, who never felt the thrill
of weightlessness (he was a different sort of pioneer)
of gazing up at a silver membrane, helium-filled
and shooting into emptiness to disappear.
Now he enters denser atmosphere

slows, pulls the cord, breathes a sigh
floats towards the bed of pillowed cloud
the strangest angel, whispering goodbye
to space, holding on to all he felt, all he was allowed,
Joe, we salute you - you did us proud.