Dead Air - Derc 31 2023

 

Dead Air

Dec 31 2023



Seeing earth from space will change you.

The shock of blue and green.

The luminous jewel

against an endless black void.

And on a borderless planet

one family of man;

the narcissism

of minor difference

made unmistakably clear.

But still, we are stubborn Aristotelians,

at the centre

despite astronomy.

The few

who have been in near earth orbit

may have a found a new humility,

but the rest remain unmoved;

after all, the oceans are limitless,

we were given dominion,

and made in the image of God.

And as we have, so far

will surely muddle through,

just as we were destined to.

We've all seen pictures

of the view from space.

The Blue Marble.

Earth Rise.

The Pale Blue Dot.

Yet imagination has failed us

and we persist in our conceit,

taking for granted

a flat earth

and warm blue sky.

Masters of the universe,

comfortable

self-satisfied.

Or could it be gravity, not distance?

The experience

of near-earth orbit

where its pull isn’t felt;

perpetually falling

and slipping the bonds

of our one and only home?

Or just not distant enough?

Perhaps, like the Apollo astronauts

we need to travel

to the far side of the moon,

into its shadow

where only the static

of interstellar space comes through.

A population of three

in a cramped metal capsule

drinking recycled pee;

dead air

on their headphones,

no earth to be seen.