Ode to
the Saturn V
Gravity fumbles and lets one through:
a climbing tower blows back
flaming raspberry three times its length.
Transcendence of the everyday
through roaring machine—
the impossible on demand
from a swiss watch that stands
one hundred and eleven metres high.
Ten separate trios of men balanced
on the head of an unfailing pin
pitched and yawed
upward and outward
defied Ithacan pull
on yoked and steered explosion
an inferno that raged only
twenty minutes per mission
but opened an infinite sky.
Twelve brought back on their boots
the dust of somewhere else
but each and all were lowered
home again as promised
to the Pacific's open embrace
on candy-striped scoops
of oh-so-welcome air.
A miracle on repeat
burns money and interest.
People stop watching
and awe becomes a yawn.
The Saturn V
elite succeeder
the tallest of poppies proves
no one likes an overachiever.
- Benjamin Dodds 2016
Benjamin Dodds is the author of Regulator (Puncher & Wattmann Poetry, 2014). His work has appeared in Best Australian Poems 2014, Meanjin, Cordite and on Radio National’s Poetica program. He blogs at benjamindodds.wordpress.com and tweets @coalesce79.
1 comment:
Excellent, such an unconventional but nonetheless engaging style. I particularly like the line: 'A miracle on repeat burns money and interest.'
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