The Arrow And The Earth Poem by Robert Eckstein

I shot an arrow straight up into the air
And stood my ground, and didn't have a care.
I knew that coriolis force would save
The careful archer from an untimely grave.

My latitude was almost forty north and its sine
Times Earth's circumference meant that I'd be fine.
Two hundred feet straight up, terminal speed at fall
Gave enough time as turned the earthly ball.

Each hour moved me eastward six hundred-sixty miles,
In a mere second, two inches, maybe more;
The Air mass moved too, and still I did not flinch
The arrow whistled by and missed me by an inch.