News headline: Nichelle Nichols,

trail-blazing Star Trek actress,

dead at 89

 

DeForest had already left us,

James and Leonard too,

so it shouldn’t have come

as a surprise, your departure

from this planet.

 

Still, each passing stings,

reminding me how far

childhood has receded

into life’s rear-view.

 

Your memory betrayed you

near the end, I’m told,

so perhaps you’d forgotten

how you blazed a trail

bright as a meteor

across a summer sky.

 

Me, I will always remember

running to my friend’s house

to watch Star Trek reruns

and I will think of the way

you opened a hailing frequency

to a more inclusive future.