Post 64
To His Holiness, Pope Francis

Just Rocket

Lover got me a new rocket ship.
All mine.

Fast.
Real fast.

Million miles a second
‘Cross the sky.
Into space.

Day is night out there
Night is day out there
Suns fly past
out there
Time space is blurred
out there.

So fast,
can’t even see it
So fast,
can’t even feel it

What speed
Incredible
No words
Could describe

Pulled up
Got my friend.
Goin’ for a ride.
Hadn’t seen her
in a while.

But hey, she knew
She knew
about the rocket ship
(I’d told her.)

Not nearly nobody knew
I kept it on the sly
Nobody’d believe me anyway
Wouldn’t believe about the lover,
Wouldn’t believe about the new
cruise control
So why bother
Keep it on the sly
Was how I thought

Oh man
You should see the dials

Pure gold controls
Diamonds on the handles
Amazing, heart-stopping,
Even for a girl

Who never cared none
about locomotion

This one, well,
it’s just
it’s so
Words fail me.

Oh man
Can’t describe.

So anyway,
Picked up my friend
Goin’ for a spin

She got in,
Her reaction
Just as I thought

(Knew her well.)

Blown away.
Utterly astounded.

We flew
Was it half a second?
Then out near stars.

There goes our sun.
Which galaxy
would you prefer?

Blew her mind.
As I expected.

What a time!
Flew for hours.
No lights.
No lanes.
Just pure
unadulterated
space

Outer space
Like you’ve never seen
Oceans of colour
God’s design
Gorgeous

Then

Well,

Then,

She settled in.

Yeah,

She settled in.

She said, “So, how fast you flyin’, anyhow?”
She leaned over. A little in my space, I noted. Peered at the dials. My dials.
She said, “Hey, I’ll adjust that rearview mirror. A little off, in my humble opinion.”
(What a phrase! Worse as acronym. IMHO’s a hospital ward, I think. ‘Course it’s your opinion. Didn’t think it was your neighbour’s, did I? As for humble, well, it’s interesting that you announce that.)
She touched the mirror. (You just been fingerprinted, criminal.)
She said, “What about the oil? Have you changed it?”
I looked at her.
She asked, “And could I play devil’s advocate?”
(What’s that? Since when did satan need a lawyer? Want him as your client? Um, why?)
I looked at her.
She said, “Can I ask you a question?”
I looked at her; I was exhausted.
She said, “But what I really want to know is,
what about
the motor?
I’m rather concerned.
Let’s chat about that.”

Yeah baby,
Let’s not.

So that was that.
It’s how it all ended.
Was it a tenth of a second?
Won’t say it stops on a dime
’cause it stops on the edge of an edge of a dime
Just so.

Anyhow, right outside her place.
Is where I stopped.
Little field trip,
Well,
it’s over.

Door handle works smooth
Why don’t you try it?
Yeah, why don’t you step outside, baby
Look at my rocket
Check it out

Real nice rocket, hey
Like it from the outside?
Stand there, I’ll fire it up
Check out the tail lights
As I leave.

Goodbye.

Got a date
Anyway

Got a date
Anyhow

Gotta go

My Lover
Maker of the Universe
Creator of Time
And Space

You gotta know

Three things
Trinity of things,
let’s say,

About this Rocket
About my Lover

Number One
The driver’s seat
is under me
not you

Number Two
The owner’s manual
belongs to me
not you

Number Three
He taught me to fly
Lover did

‘Cross the sky
Don’t know why

He chose me
But he did

So chill.