Beatnik Reentry

four…
    …it’s a wild glide baby
    liquid steel speed
    a searing shriek through friction
    into crushing atmosphere
    from barrenness so black
    it stains the brain
    to blue so effortlessly wide
    that it becomes the sky...
three…
    …it’s a crazed slide baby
    scorched acceleration
    whispers upwards into scream
    turning curve of world
     into freefall whirl
     of yawning drop so deep
     it swallows up your soul…
two…
     …get ready for it baby
     snap restraining straps
     close the gold-lined helmet visor
     do a final systems check
     take one last final hit
     hold in that shaking breath
     cuz here it comes now baby....
...ONE…
     shockwave speed that soars
     across a minuscule divide
     from killing, airless emptiness
     to living, breathing world…