Today marked the successful launch of NASA’s Orion spacecraft. Although there was no crew on board, the Orion spacecraft, which at some point in the future will journey to Mars, “completed its first voyage to space, traveling farther than any spacecraft designed for astronauts has been in more than 40 years.” Exactly seven minutes into this video of the launch, you can hear the switch in the commentary to Mission Control Houston. Needless to say, that was a favorite moment of mine.

So this week’s haiku theme is about launches into space, into a home life without parents, into risky business ventures, into the adventure that is faith, etc. Write one verse with five syllables in the first line, seven syllables in the second line, and five syllables in the third line. Here’s mine, which pairs the news about Orion with the recent launches of protests in cities over the erosion of trust between police officers and the African-American community:

Orion’s dawn brings
hope while social unrest brings
protests down below.