Countdown: A Chilling 23 Yr Old Tribute To Columbia

Rush-Signals | 2-1-03 | Neil Peart

[Darksheare]

Thought of another one, Def Leppard "Rocket".
But I don't have the full lyrics on hand at the moment.
Have to go to Leo's Lyrics and pull it from their site in a bit.
But it won't fit as well as Floyd's "Learning to Fly"
(Which, if I remember correctly, came out right after Challenger was destroyed with all hands.)

[Uncle Jaque]

Re: "... a star of silvery metal bright
where gossamer glass from icy dew
gave way; and roamed in rarefied space's night
the vessel of Columbian dreams we knew
now perished; ..."

I like it! The contrast of imagery between fire and ice is intriguing; extreme peace, silence, and tranquility of space contrasted with the intense heat and chaos of re-entry. There is a lot of metaphorical potential in there somewhere, don't you think?

I'm having dificulty maintaining some metrical symetry and continuity with this - not a big deal in "free verse" I suppose, but it does matter if one intends to put it to some sort of coherent music.

It would be interesting to compose a musical tribute like this as a "team effort".

"Columbia" certainly was.