Challenger

she stood at stately attention
gowned in pristine white
flanked by her booster-knights,
Diana pursuing her Orion

poised for her “routine launch”
to send soaring seven souls
cradled in her tight embrace,
while mere mortals gawked

“eerie beauty of the orange fireball”
“billowing white trails against the blue”
as she blew into a million bits
and floated back to earth

“officials discounted
speculation that
cold weather”
was to blame

Atë had wrought her work
e’en tho Allan McDonald
brave NASA Engineer
refused to sign off

“freezing overnight temperatures…
could compromise
the booster rocket joints…
could damage…”

as Hades welcomed
them into his cold grasp
President Reagan orated they’d
“slipped the surly bonds of earth”

meanwhile, the mourners,
among them Christa McAuliffe’s
family and students,
remained rooted in shock