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The Runaway Rocket

The rocket soared into the sky
And lighted up the night;
The scientists looked on distraught
By the unscheduled flight.
Although they programmed it to fly
Around the blue-green earth,
It headed straight toward outer space
And to their fears gave birth.

They shouted to the speeding ship,
"You must get back on course
To circle round the earth or we
Will soon resort to force.
You broke the law of gravity
And pay for it you must."
"I won't abide by any law
I don't consider just,"
Said the independent rocket
As toward outer space it thrust.

"We'll blow you up," the scientists
Cried out in great alarm.
"Just let it be," Von Braun said,
"For it can do no harm,"
And as he watched it thunder toward
The moon, the sun, the stars,
He dreamed of that great day to come
When men would walk on Mars.

The missile sped through outer space
For many thousand years,
And saw the universe untouched
By human hands and fears;
Then landed on a planet whose
Inhabitants amazed
Now knew that there was life somewhere
In space, and God they praised.

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