Tranquility

50 years since the moon landing, and that first step on the moon. What else could I write about today? A memory that has remained over all the years of watching it on that grainy TV set. This poem takes it from Neil Armstrong's perspective.

Tranquility

Here is my vision, the joy of my heart
The landing so perilous, save by my art
Passed by rocky boulders, shaded in night
And finding the plain, so brilliant in light

Now comes the moment, the time of my word
Across all the nations, these phrases are heard
As down a ladder, and shaded from sun
I took just one more step, but this was the one

Against Earth’s strong gravity, our rocket took flight
This was our mission, and this our delight
A rocket so massive, in steel a high tower
Raising me heavenward, so mighty its power

On that fateful day, and heedless of praise
Such a moment in time, now and always:
Always in memory, in my beating heart
I took one small step, and that was my part

This was the glory, the victory won
Sea of Tranquility, now shadowed by sun
A man on the moon, and whatever befall,
I stepped on the surface, I came for us all