the mercury rider

 well, if you really want to know

i'll try my best to explain.

you ARE the payload.
they place you, none too gently
into the space no bigger than
a phone booth.

you sit there
waiting for 'Go to Launch.'

if a flock of damn geese stir
from those marshlands
they stand down the count indefinitely.

you're laying flat on your back
looking through this tiny view port.
Couldn't call it a windscreen.

then, eventually it's a "Go.'

to me, it's not as dramatic as it must seem.
you see, you're busy working all kinds of data.
no time to think about it.

avionics, telemetry information
and communication to downrange operators
takes all your concentration.

then they light the candle!

it looks like a slow lift off on television
but inside that tiny capsule it's like
a mighty kick in the ass!

the entire craft vibrates like a horse with a wasp up it's rear!
it bucks and snorts
tosses one way
then another
and you are
pressed
flat
by
G's.

you weigh a zillion pounds
and all you can do is keep talking to Control
so they know your brain still works.

and up.....up......UP you go
until that triangle viewing port turns a strange blue/black
like you're in the bluest ocean, and you swim over an under-water shelf
and it's the blackest of black......

and suddenly all the G forces are cut off, like you didn't pay your bill
and you're free in your restraints! you could float if you un-belted...

....so you do.
you do.

oh, god
you do.