Beryllium slips through fingers
Like wax drips from wings
Like a shuttle burns
We taste, smell, inhale death
Besieged by alpha particles
Assaulted by x-rays
We grasp for the explosion of knowledge
And stumble on explosions of fire
We aim for the sun
Knowing that sometimes
Sometimes
The wings tear
And we're brought to the ground
In blood and pain and tears
And yet
In that terrifying moment
We are the brightest thing in the sky