Questão 3166554

MY FATHER, THE ASTRONAUT

If the moon was Europe, my father was an astronaut who died on his

way to the moon.

My father, the failed moonwalker, blinded by space.

My father, the

Black cosmonaut, frenzied

by thirst. My father who heard the voice of God, clear as the call to

prayer, suspended in that dark desert.

My father who wore a spacesuit slashed by longing, spinning towards

the vast desolate.

On a night when the angels have drawn back their wings, you may

glimpse my father

hurtling through space, his body carried by gravity’s absence, blood

collecting in his head,

his tears pink, gelatinous clots, unable to fall.

(2022, Warsan Shire. From: Bless the Daughter Raised by a Voice in Her Head Publisher: Penguin Random house)

In light of the the excerpt from “My Father, the Astronaut” by Warsan Shire, which of the following single words most aptly encapsulates the overarching emotional and symbolic tenor of the passage?