Seven noble explorers, seven intrepid souls,
selected by excellence to brave heaven's shoals.
Embodied with the human spirit and a nation's pride,
tasked to test the waters of the celestial tide.
Boldly they went forth to capture a nation's dream.
Commanding a rocket, progress riding on its beam.
Their effort was emblazoned on six billion minds that day,
..all progress exacts tribute through lives littered along the way.
Their lives were precious jewels, polished and bright,
with dreams and desires that eclipsed the farthest sight.
Their noble deeds and daring, for all they left behind,
must serve as testament for emulation by mankind.
Their triumph was their excellence, their sacrifice to all;
to six billion fellow earthlings who, in rapture, watched them fall.
Their spirit is enduring and will pass from soul to soul,
through all future generations to whom their story will be told.
Gerard A. Geiger Jan 28, 1996
Written on the 10th anniversary of the Challenger accident.
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Read from my published works; The Complete Poetical Works Listening to the Corn  |