Endeavor just flew over.

Endeavor Onward

A silver speck against the blue-white wideness of the desert sky;
Endeavour sails no longer to the stars,
But here she majestic flies, serene atop her custom ride
Honoring her final pilot, and one who worked to see her work go forth:
Mark Kelly, Gabby Giffords, both grounded now as well,
Yet never ceasing their endeavors to carry on and upward,
Going forward.
Sentinal Peak salutes her, as do we who dwell in sight
Of that black mountain and the stars that shine above.
No cloud can dim that brightness, nor sorrow fade
The knowledge, the achievement she - and we - have wrought.
New craft will come, new hope spring up,
Inspired by both ladies, dauntless in their will;
New dreams shall see the day, made real with many hands
That reach and work not isolate, alone,
But with concerted effort, all together,
Endeavoring always onward, and reaching for the stars.


--Jennifer Tifft, 2012

On the overflight in Arizona


On the overflight in Silicon Valley:

A roar, a flash, here and gone.
Looking up from dirt into the blue sky at white wings;
one last passage for honor and remembrance.
The last of the Shuttles weaving the path here to orbit;
a gap in the sock to space now exists.
What will darn it?

Darn it! We are blinded by earthbound interests;
wars and fear rather than looking forward, outward, upward...
where is the killer app that will push money into space?
Science and time march on, as do religious fears,
but I looked into the sky as the spacebearer passed,
and remember a past of more glorious futures.

It's not how much better I could be than four years ago,
but how much better We can be as a country.
"Men build big things, awesome things",
but besides the mile high penis substitute buildings,
what do we build that could be that great?
A bridge to the sky, and beyond the sky,
Goodbye Ferry of the New Frontier.

Endeavor. I shall strive to.

--John Schmidt