The assignment this time was to write a poem focusing on the line breaks and meter. Mostly the line breaks, though. We were supposed to use the line breaks to inform the content of the poem somehow as well as dragging, advancing, and balanced tension in the rhythm to support our overall composition. Here is a poem based on a Wolf Parade song based on a movie that I guess is based on a true story (or maybe it was a documentary)?
Mission Control
This capsule is a hailstone
that will precipitate beyond the ultimate precipice
faith placed in science the immutable truth
of numbers.
The mission’s destination
the value of glory
how could I have miscalculated so
badly
how did mission control miss
the moon a heavenly body unmistakably
familiar
and always within grasp
it seemed?
This journey I had to travel
myself
leaving behind my wife and unborn child
the sun’s life giving light and
warmth.
I knew a possibility was death
just as every man knows
the impending end of
his journey,
but my journey will have no
end:
the closest terrestrial body is far
behind me.
