The Decision

What war eagle will YOU fly into that midnight,
away away from the Earth's soft blue light,
screaming your human pride
   at the end of a burning spear into the sky,
we defy you, ye gods, to throw us down again,
where the weak bones of your gravity we break with our sin,
chins tucked to chests lest the launch break our necks
   as we rise like a sun in the west,

best damn day of my life,
this day,
on the stoop in front of my kids and crying wife,

if I stay,
we all die
(eventually)
if I go to die
   they live long beautiful lives,

without me.

TA