THE ASTRONAUT By ... Steve Lucky

              THE ASTRONAUT
            By ... Steve Lucky

Risking billions of possible dangers, known and unknown,
The astronaut left the relative safety of the spacecraft
And began his spacewalk to the solar panels
So he could make the needed repairs.
No one else was going to do it for him.
Back on Earth, no one could do it for him.
Meteors, radiation, and dangers not yet discovered
Were things he regularly faced on the job.
Ready to return to the ship at any given moment,
He examined the damaged solar panel.
Every crew member had a job to do.
If any one of them was left undone,
They would not survive the harshness of space.
All of them codepended on one another.
This was something the astronaut had learned back on Earth.
Life threatening or not, a job not done
Created a tremendous burden on the others.
In space more than ever, they were depending on him.
With a steady hand, he repaired the damaged solar panel
And made sure it was working properly.
When his job was done, he returned to the spacecraft
And told his teammates inside,
One flying the ship and one monitoring communications for Earth,
How greatful he was to have them.

Copyright 2001, Steve Lucky