Escape Velocity

We learned to reach... Not because it was easy... But because the sky had always asked us to. Steel wrapped around impossible dreams, Standing where the shoreline ends. Seven hearts beneath one promise, Trusting fire like an old friend. Years of questions... Years of waiting... One more page... One more dawn. Every eye turned toward the heavens, Certain history would carry on. A million calculations... Every number in its place. A single breath... A final silence... Before the climb into the blue. Fire beneath us... Sky above... Every mile a testament To courage... Hope... And love. Higher... Far beyond the clouds we knew... Accelerating... Then... Go at throttle up... The machine... Already has broken up... The shattered parts... Are losing energy... Arcing... Back... To the sea... No triumph. No farewell. Only the long descent Through a winter sky. The ocean remembers What the headlines forget. Smoke disappears. The sky becomes blue again. Children grow older. Launch towers wait. Dreams refuse To stay on the ground. We still reach... Though we know the cost. We still build... Though we've counted loss. Every sunrise Carries every name. Every launch Still whispers the same. Higher... Beyond our fear... Beyond the silence... Beyond the flame... The sea gathered what remained. The sky kept its silence. The stars... Never stopped calling. And the world... Keeps turning.