Balls to the Wall!

Balls to the Wall! The X-1 engine beneath concealed In the mother plane as through sky she peeled! Imaginations all congealed, Wondering what this attempt might yield. Ground crew kept the eagle's eye. Would this warrior's same fate lie With twisted mortals? Ten did die. But, do we ever wonder why? Our passions catch us unaware, As ten men had sped through same air, An attempt to settle this new affair, But, we can't see them anywhere. 'Tis that longing in a human's need To know what lurks within the seed The daring ones will surely feed; Rise to the call, though they may bleed. Surface knowledge knows no end When something we ought break or bend As Newton's theories to us lend The chance to finally comprehend. We'd lie for truth, we'd die to learn Of territories for which we yearn To master even if we burn, Which can occur at every turn. He took his life in his own hands To touch the abstract, distant lands And know a universe of odd demands, That is where Chuck Yeager stands. A land beast bucked him to the ground, Broken ribs were secretly bound. This warrior uttered not a sound, But to the trusted two around. Yeager stretched his hidden cane And closed the latch on that tiny plane, Prepared to endure gravity's pain, Knowing he would not complain. The mother jettisoned him away; Beneath her womb, he flew that day Thinking death might make him pay, But come what will, and come what may. Instinct told what must be done. Reversal came and truth was won. His speed was about to reach Mach 0.1 But, the blast made all think him undone. A vein of grief and heightened dread Flowed through watchers who thought him dead. Then his plane banked overhead; His mate did tilt her lovely head And saw Yeager's spirit in us all As we seek to break Boundary's call. "Come ye warriors, come one, come all, But come prepared, 'Balls to the wall!'" By Kelly Varner JohnsonFor a true American hero, Chuck Yeager. I've never known such fearlessness in a human before, not one that lived to tell his tale. Thanks, Chuck, your indomitable spirit makes me proud to be a part of the human race. Kelly Written April 1st, 2002 © on Apr 01 2002 09:41 AM PST, Kelly Varner Johnson   0 • 10