UPON THE SECOND ANNIVERSARY OF APOLLO 11, 1969 (Poem)

The moon has been out there
Silently sliding ‘round the Earth,
Sometimes dark and eerie, other times bright and cheerful,
Contemplated by man
During all those millennia of his existence.
Feared by man because of its mystery.
Frustrating man because it was beyond his reach.

The moon has been out there
Endlessly swinging ‘round the Earth.
Howled at by wolves; casting gentle light for lovers;
A friend at night
During all those millennia of mans’ existence.
Studied by man because of its strangeness;
Frustrating him: Swiss green cheese or mountains and seas?

Then the day came
When a great leader
Pit the will of man
Against the forces of nature.
"I believe this nation should commit itself
To achieving a goal before this decade is out
Of landing a man on the moon
And returning him safely to the earth."*
So started the impossible task.
Step after painful step:
"Lord, this contract’s behind!"
"God, that part doesn’t fit!"
"Where in the world are Smith and Jones?"
"At Ames? Why in hell are they there?
Get them to Marshall quick. There’s trouble!"
"Can’t anyone do anything right around here?"
Tension, TENSION, TENSION. It’s tension
That gets the job done.
Must rush! Faster! The decade is passing.
"Can’t anything get done on time?"
Mercury, Gemini, Surveyor, Orbiter,
APOLLO!
And three men died:
Edward White, Virgil Grissom, and Roger Chaffee.

The moon has been out there
Untouched by man all this long time.
Seen first tantalizingly by eye and telescope;
Then Close-up by man
During flight of Apollo in nineteen sixty-eight.
Cold, gray, dry, dead, devoid of life, they said.
Frustrating man preoccupied with life.

On July twentieth, nineteen hundred and sixty nine
Touch the moon, man did on that day.
He walked on it and he gathered some of its treasure.
He shouted for joy!
Armstrong, Aldrin, Collins on Apollo 11.
Moon passive now to meteorite blasts,
But twas a day, studies show, of wild activity.

Written 1971

*John F. Kennedy (May 25th, 1961)