Most of the men are gone,
but their wives remain to tell stories.
Hardy German women congregate in the
halls of their elite residence.
Their guttural accents echo a common past.

They were uprooted from their homes
and native tongue to support
their husbands whose eyes were on the stars.

They followed Von Braun and his dream
of discovering the vast space that reaches
out for eternity.

Rockets soaring, satellites and missiles.
A genius generation like none other.

Smart, independent wives who
are in their nineties, now.
They bear the cold weather like seals.
They walk and stay strong for as long
as their bodies cooperate.

In the distance, I see Helga standing
alone in the night, looking up at the stars.
Is she talking to her husband?
Is she ready to join the line which
will soon dissipate?

They will follow Wernher and
their husbands.
But not to America’s strange new land.

They will scatter to the cosmos
and grasp the skies they loved.