Mars flight

I was waiting on a bench outside Stop & Shop
for my husband to pick me up when a guy
plunked down on the bench next to mine
lit a cigarette and looked over  Nice out I said
He didn't give a crap he said  His girlfriend
had kicked him out and everything he had
was in his car  She hadn't liked his tone
of voice  Something he had said about
a friend of hers or maybe had wanted to know
where she had been and that was that
He said just get me out of here  I said
you could buy tickets for the first Mars flight
on Virgin Galactica or Tesla or somewhere
and he said sign me up  I'll be the first in line
I said it would be hard  what something like
a year and a half to go from here to there
crammed in the company of who knows who
He said so much the better  he couldn't wait
even if I need a space suit to breathe
falling over and over in slow somersaults
in the airless darkness  a piece of dust
or dried seed  anything not attached
to an umbilical cord