SESTINA SATURDAY: In Which I Try To Answer @IsoBan's Question

So far as we know well, we've just one life
Apiece, and while there's room for lots of change,
And impetus for more out in the stars,
We're somewhat governed, still, by what our past
Has made of us. That's not to say a plan
Cannot be radical; just takes resolve.

Excited as I am by your resolve
(It's something I have shared), I think your life
May have a shape unlike that which you plan
In thinking once again of school. A change
Is good but not for its own sake. Your past
Mayhap has shown your own path to the stars.

We want to take our people to the stars
In one form or another. We resolve
A future for our species, though its past
Persuades some it's unworthy. Still, for life
As Earth has made it to go on and change
Beyond the Sun's lifespan, we need a plan.

As Constellation was quite a flawed plan,
But was the one we had beneath these stars,
And hasn't been replaced so much by change
As for some place-held promises, resolve
To keep to NASA's mission's threatened. Life
Demands that we who want more, shed the past.

But much of who we are comes from that past,
Our talents and our strengths -- surely our plan
Must needs incorporate these; one's whole life
Informs one's mission, whether to the stars
Or to a city park as ash. Resolve
With me to stay true to this through this change.

Is what you do now not of value? Change
Perhaps its focus, but respect your past,
What you have done and longed for. Your resolve
Will stay strong if you honor that. I plan
As you do, too, to redirect; the stars
Call to us with a strength beyond mere life.

But know as life calls on you now to change
And chase the stars directly, that your past,
Your friends, support your plan and your resolve.

Sestinator's note: To hear the other end of this conversation, check out this AudioBoo of my friend Chris Butler's (aka @IsoBan).