Space Shuttle

"we're running in opposite directions, clutching
our chests, trying not to get our hearts pulled out."
-Isabel Yap, Rabbit Stew

They said he was a victim
of an accident. They said he was desperate
to reach the moon and hold it
in his hands. But let me tell you
exactly why he died. It was no ordinary
roller coaster ride. The sign
on the entrance says:
those with weak heart may not enter.
But he wanted to. He insisted
and they let him get through.
Things happened so fast. He tried not to look
at the lovers who held hands
as the roller coaster blasted off.
The wind hit him violently
as things began to zoom
at the back of his mind, like his memories
of you saying saka na ulit natin subukan
na pumunta sa buwan. Somehow, he wished
that there wasn't an empty seat
beside him, so he looked away
at that empty space. He tried not to scream
his heavy heart out but it was getting heavier
than before so he had to let go.
When it was all over, they found his body
on the seat, one hand clutched
in his chest; the other held nothing
but an empty, lonely space.