Past, Present, and Future

A tanka, which has the pattern --5-7-5-7-7.

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This is dedicated to the future.

Past, Present, and Future

                   Heavier than air,
                   At Kitty Hawk they flew it.
                   Wilbur and Orville,
                   In a trip that changed the world,
                   They hurled mankind into flight.


                   In orbiting Earth,
                   A cosmonaut from Russia,
                   Yuri Gagarin,
                   In his trip around the world,
                   Thrust all mankind into space.


                   Piercing the cosmos
                   From the United Countries,
                   Varied astronauts
                   Will fly beyond our sector,
                   And launch man into the stars.


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