16 June 2006 | Vol. 6, No. 2

Aeronautics

by RACHEL MALLINO

Open your window and let in the atmosphere
Oh, let it breakthrough…
– Modest Mouse

Here, tourists sift sand between toes, not knowing

salt makes straw of hair. I explore the ocean for one

of Christa McAuliffe's strands. Her machine cut through air

with the confidence of steel. When it separated,

my second grade teacher dismissed us for the day.

I didn't know precision could unhinge itself. My grandmother cried

that afternoon, not because cancer blew up in her mouth,

but because I had witnessed how things fall apart.