Yuri Gagarin

From D's journal,  February 20, 2003.
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Heaven, says Yuri Gagarin.  I've already seen it.
God is a stone buried deep in a riverbank.
Slingshot over the sky and then
Only the noise of machines, Yuri Gagarin
Listens to the hisses and shudders and blips
Of the Sputnik and eyes gaping crosses each
Sound out one by one until the last sound
Is his heartbeat.  God is the water
Running, beating, pooling,
Subsiding into earth and stone.
Yuri Gagarin is walking along the towpath.
The river is dry, the chalky sound of bones is God.
Kashmar. Ochin plochka.  Uzjets.
The universe expands like a candy wrapper
Think of the continuous sound of the earth.
Yuri Gagarin jumps into the air
Hangs himself from a cold front gasping.
A crow attaches its red claws to his lapels.
Don't listen to the silence, it says.

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If you have seen Heaven, send me just one word "yes,"
maybe by jotting down, or even a check mark, on the surface of the moon.
Then I will not bother you any more.