The Astronaut

The astronaut has been drugged. He sleeps

with his helmet off,

the particles of his brain altered

in the blue alchemy

of space.
His feet, arms, hands and legs 
have become 
unhinged

from his torso. He sends out signals, 
coded transmissions,

that are difficult to read.

He mouths the words to a song

only the deaf can hear.

He makes a false confession

to his imaginary therapist
and then takes it all back
and holds fast 
once again to the truth.

He reads the news.
He watches TV shows
broadcast from an alien planet
revolving around an alien sun.

There are others with him, hordes of them, 
flocks of them, invisible now

but not so far away.
We know some of them.
They are not all forgotten.
We remember those that once
heard our voices
and looked into our eyes.

When will they parachute 
back in 
to our world
of air, land and ocean?
When will they come back to us?