The Magnificent Seven

Columbia soars high up from it’s launch pad, or so it seems Seven men and women like children, fulfilling their most dreamt about dreams. Cocooned inside their spaceship, our earth, they now see as a whole A pity we can’t all see the big picture and reconcile it with our soul. Up there, feeling quite privileged and a closeness to some greater force, But the demands of the day take these feelings away, a space station determines their course. All tasks performed with precision; the training has paid off in full Heading home it’s not just gravity but family and friends that provide a great pull. Touching the edges of our small earth, the entry has now begun but senors; both electronic and human seem to suggest this day might be run. All eyes now trained skyward, a pitiful sight for all to behold And the voice from NASA talks of ‘contingency’ – all seems rather cold. They left this earth as explorers not knowing, there would be no return But, like pioneers before them, tis another chapter from which man will learn. Thousands and thousands of people, some known and some not, are lost every day And yet, just seven in a very long moment, caused a world of nations to unite and pray.