A Man on the Moon

During beach vacation this year we had a theme for Entertainment Night since it was the 50th anniversary of the first man on the moon and I wrote this poem about it:

A Man on the Moon
By Michelle Brodie
July 18, 2019

To stand under the stars & planets on a dark night

To know those remote places, stars, galaxies, and the stellar panorama is alright

Both humbling & exhilarating

To see from our tiny island planet

Celestial wonders pulsating

The light we see this dark night

Shone in ancient times when dinosaurs terrorized everything in sight

Puffs of frosty breath and star cities beyond our own Milky Way

Make us ponder and wonder are we really here to stay?

This night we lie on dewy grass

And gaze at the starry, starry night

A celestial excursion is about to pass

Our nearest celestial neighbor 239,000 miles away

Orbiting once every 27-32 days maybe we will go there one day

It’s July 20, 1969

10:48 pm Eastern Daylight Savings Time and just in time

Neil Armstrong has just stepped on the moon!

We watch enthralled with the entire platoon

Black & white TV,

Walter Cronkite narrating and everyone around the world, except China, can see

Neil in his darling white suit, oversized mirrored helmet, Odd little cod piece and

Moon-dust covered boot

I felt a twinge of pity

Michael Collins on the sideline of history

In neither moon nor city

There to make sure to bring our Neil Armstrong & Buzz Aldrin safely home

To our round blue planet to be adored and placed on a throne

But now 50 years have passed

And few are left who witnessed or remember

Yet here we are today celebrating this momentous occasion

And stoking the memory like a glowing ember

It may seem quaint to young people today and those who came after

Nnnn,  We sent a man to the moon…

But to me I will always remember July 20, 1969 with awe and wonder

And hope that, just as a young man, cut down in his prime, propelled a nation to pursue its lofty goal of putting a man on the moon,

We will continue to pursue our dreams, achieve them with alacrity and soon