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