Kal 007* Poem by James Andrews

The waltz begins
And partners are exchanged
The dancers float across the ballroom

'I have visual on the target'

Unfamiliar eyes gaze deeply
Breasts and chests press closer
A hand moves slightly downward

'I have radar lock.'

The couples move like iron filings
Magnets draw them
Into shadowed corners

'The target is acquired.'

An instant passes
The light gavotte of courtship
Lies forgotten and discarded

'Commencing firing sequence.'

Hands and fingers tremble
Moving up and inward
In a humid darkness

'Missiles are away.'

Long chances and old loyalties
Fly up and float toward heaven
A rising wind will seize and hurl them far away

'The target is destroyed! '

'The target is destroyed! '


*Korean Airlines Flight 007 with 239 passengers aboard was shot down by a Soviet fighter over the Sea of Okhotsk in 1983. The lines in quotations are the radio transmissions from the Russian pilot.