Another Night on the Far Side of the Universe

Despair is a death sentence.
Once you stop believing… that’s it, you’re dead.
That’s just the way things are. It’s guaranteed.
Once that belief has gone, you might as well end it yourself.
Twist a screwdriver through the belly of the console
And headbutt your way to freedom.
Because at least, that would be quick — some respite
From the slow, lingering death of the hopeless
For weeks now, it seemed to me,
That that’s what the tiny beeping blip
On the scanner had been to us; a reason to hope.
A reason to keep going.
Day by day, that little blinking light was getting closer.
When it first came into view, we dared to picture redemption,
Enough fuel to last a lifetime…
Maybe even human contact.
That little innocuous dot kept us believing that,
Even in this vacuum, this great black desert,
There might still be life