The Space Cadet Science Fiction Review, Spring 2022 (issue #1)

Table of Contents [live links | click icon to toggle]

Pg. 52


Poetry by John Grey


Lift-off

At seven a. m., the young astronaut,
waits nervously, excitedly,
strapped inside a rocket ship,
as a loud voice, somewhere in the universe,
counts down from 10.

While zero means boil the water,
flush the toilet, shave the chin,
up and down the east coast,
the capsule, the man,
shake from an engine rumble
of city-flattening earthquake decibels.

Despite an ear-drum shattering takeoff,
the noiseless yawn, the nose
wiped on a tissue, the indifferent
cheek kiss, are heard more frequently.

John Grey

John Grey is an Australian poet, US resident, recently published in Sheepshead ReviewPoetry Salzburg Review and Hollins Critic. Latest books, Leaves On PagesMemory Outside The Head and Guest Of Myself are available through Amazon. Work upcoming in EllipsisBlueline and International Poetry Review.