Telstar 1
Cygnus is flying toward
The western horizon
On a warm Tuesday
With this satellite mounted
On a Delta rocket
Pushing terrain beneath
Its explosive light in
The clear to launch sequence
Burning skyward through
A deafening roar across
The Florida scrubland
Before eggs and toast
Visit family tables
A three-foot cylinder
Leaves swaddling for space
Away from mother rocket
With its new born circuits
Relaying Kennedy’s speech
Out of the vast ebony
Beyond this metal infant
Transmitting four hundred calls
By the second equinox
When one transistor fails
Vital signs drift away
While orbiting earth
Siblings join its passage like
Voices around a corpse
Dane Karnick grew up by the Colorado “Rockies” and lives near Seattle. His poetry has appeared recently in El Portal, Umbrella Factory and Ephrastic Review. Visit him at www.danekarnick.com.