Fast Track Poem
Original archive entry. The text, images and links below are kept as they were written.
Credit: MBB
Poem: the visionary with a slide-rule named you: Silbervogel...
Eugen Saenger 1905-1964
Irene Bredt 1911-1983
David Urie 1932-
the visionary with a slide-rule named you: Silbervogel
the wind tunnel technicians joked: bügeleisen,
but you could never iron out the funding snags,
could never fly out of that wind tunnel into a playful sky.
since a physics teacher
chose a book prize for that 16-year old kid,
chose Auf Zwei Planeten,
three generations have taxied down this empty runway.
today's "the next chapter in our ride to new worlds"
David sketched on a sheet sheer geometry of power,
matched the engineers' epigram:
looks good, flies good.
Eugen & Irene's flatiron
crafted from materials born after their time:
hypersonic wave-rider with engines to pole-vault horizons
you open the throttle, toss back your head.
Silbervogel laughing at gravity,
streamed delta of wings & speed, you
stand on your shock wave, surf the skies
& slide onto the silver strands of orbits.
glossary:
Silbervogel (Ger) - Silver Bird
bügeleisen (Ger) - an iron
Auf Zwei Planeten - (Ger) On Two Planets; sci-fi novel
--Keith Gottschalk