Before the mission I had feared little
But my family had feared a great deal
Thinking I'd be stranded, lost, unreachable
That I'd become a lost organic space relic
Upon my safe, return, I spoke to them
And then I had to address the entire world
I'd told them how I'd flown through space
It was real, dangerous, inexorably vast
A visceral world, not one of my imagination
It was a silent void, an isolated, cold place
Upon cold ocean moons there lingered hope
Beneath the ice the echoes of life in hibernation
In space flesh would be stripped from bones
Without my space suit I'd be a dead, drifting
Even so, all of my comrades were dead
And in the vast emptiness I was alone
Distant from home, I'd forgotten my mission
Not fears for my own self, but for the earth
I had to find it in me to return, and endure
When I saw the planet, a blue globe turning
I was moved, to tell others what had been
I had to tell others of hope for our survival
We would have visitors, mentors and guides
Our world would change upon their arrival
And the world would change from our home
To the place we were born, and eventually left
To explore the far reaches of space
As we achieve fulfillment of our destiny
