Outside the hatch <br />he turns slowly <br />and talks <br />but I can't make out <br />the words he says <br /> <br />they fall from his lips <br />dangle and float in space <br />outside the backyard fence <br />a hill grabs the moon <br /> <br />and then slowly <br />lets it go again <br />the moon floating just <br />out of reach <br /> <br />laughs; 'Go on...do that again! ' <br />the hill smiles: 'Just you wait... just you wait! ' <br />the moon beams <br />as a little bird <br /> <br />gingerly(as if at first unsure) <br />steps out into space <br />and then <br />finds flight <br />take hold of it <br />as if <br />it had only discovered it that minute <br />and absconds with it <br />the darkness <br />barks <br /> <br />and falls <br />into silence <br />and then another part <br />of the darkness <br />barks back <br />held <br />in a gentleness <br /> <br />a leaf tiptoes <br />down the breeze <br />as if descending <br />a spiral staircase <br /> <br />Time holds <br />its breath <br />outside <br />the hatch <br />flat on his back <br />the earth a little blue ball he has let go of <br /> <br />the astronaut <br />slowly turns <br />and waves
