Uh Oh

Not "Go

to main engine throttle up"—

the simple period, the point

at the end of a straight line.

Uh-oh — the short

and long of it, intact,

alive, the cabin yet

rising a couple of miles, although

at half a mile a second

and tumbling, who would know

when rising turned to falling.

Uhhh. .  .   Ohhh…

the caught breath and its slow

release, telemetry running

through the long descent

as you pull the mask

over your face and breathe.

Rounding a mountain curve too fast,

I startle a couple out walking

and have already passed

when I know I've seen

the infant on the wife's breast

and the gesture of her husband

reaching with one hand

to save them from the car.

Ohhh!  The body's antic

dancing in the fire!

as if for joy! as if

we didn't know

                                                                        DL

Several months after the Space Shuttle "Challenger" blew up on take off (1986), the remains of its cockpit were discovered in the waters off the Florida coast. The bodies of the crew had emergency oxygen masks on their faces, and the supply of emergency oxygen had been depleted. Also recovered was a cockpit voice recorder containing two syllables after the last "official" communication with mission control.