WHEN in the course of human Events, it becomes necessary….
Moonrise (July 20, 1969)
byVanderleunonJuly 20, 2022
U.S. astronaut Buzz Aldrin salutes the American flag on the surface of the Moon after he and fellow astronaut Neil Armstrong became the first men to land on the Moon during the Apollo 11 space mission on July 20, 1969.
The moon marked out the edge of heaven.
On this, our scriptures all agreed.
The moon was fixed, it could not fall.
The moon would fill our final needs.
The songs we’d learned were of the moon,
A fitting subject, known to all,
But the songs we sang were of the Earth,
And those that lived before the Fall.
These songs of forests flowing round
The Earth’s four corners warmed the frost
That killed our gardens, coming early,
To remind us all of what we’d lost.
“Why wander yearning for the moon?”
We’d ask of stones and ancient trees.
Their silence sang back in the night,
Of lands where all free choices freeze.
“Tranquillity”, they promised us,
“Is the highest peak you will attain.
Tranquillity, where your bones will rest
Forever in the airless rains.”
Our numbers grew, as did our tongues,
Beside brown rivers, on ancient plains.
We made more gods, we built up walls,
We fashioned towers of dirt and rain.
Within those walls we planted fruit
And flowers bordering roofless rooms,
Wherein we sang the centuries down,
Observing all the phases of the moon.
In time our towers turned to steel,
And their foundations into fire.
The rooms we made were sealed as stone,
And in those rooms we rose much higher.
The moon grew monstrous as we ascended;
In our window it grew larger than the world.
We lowered our ladder gingerly,
Stepped down, a bit of cloth unfurled.
We named the place Tranquillity.
A fitting gesture, all agreed.
We photographed ourselves on site,
Tossed away some junk we did not need,
And left, returning to that place
Where we’d begun beside the plains,
Boasting our footprints would endure
Forever in the airless rains.
Sometimes at night, we still look up
And see the moonrise scrape the sky.
It is the same, yet not the same,
And we know why, yes, we know why.
Such an auspicious day and event, a Sunday, that my parents even allowed us to watch this on teevee. A usually verboten activity for the Lord’s day.
PatvanJuly 20, 2018, 1:33 PM
I first (and always) read your poem(s) as presented.
Regarding these poems, sometimes I’m driven to feel the need to read each stanza backwards.
(I’m weird that way.)
It’s those sometimes that I do the smilecry….
Thank you…again. Just fookin wow.
Bill in TennesseeJuly 20, 2018, 3:27 PM
Excellent poetry, again. I’m just a poor technical writer, now retired, and now an alt-right agitator, but I could never rise to this level of writing.
But I do wonder, when I see the full moon, why did we abandon the space program and not return to the moon? If we are ever to escape this crowded prison planet, the moon will need to be our starting point.
Dr. JayJuly 20, 2018, 3:39 PM
My grandmother never believed the Moon Landing actually happened. If questioned about it she’d reply, “Who you gonna believe, me or your own eyes?” Then with a smile she’d say, “that’s Chico Marx in Duck Soup.” My grandmother was a real hoot.
I remember watching it on TV. And I love this poem.
There are very few poets who can put a chill on my spine or a lump in my throat. VanderLeun, Kipling, James Dickey…
We got bored, and left the keys in the moon buggy, because we knew we’d be back. Got. To. Love. Cadillac for that one.
Snakepit KansasJuly 21, 2018, 6:50 AM
Although I will never buy GM again due to their acceptance of terms for the Gubmint bailout, my 2006 Caddy CTS six speed manual has been a fantastic car. Hopefully my last car. Next time I move, I hope it is the cemetary.
ghostsniperJuly 21, 2018, 7:25 AM
Bill in Tennessee, you’re the only person I have ever heard saying the same thing I have for decades.
How can they be shooting stuff at Mars and elsewhere when they haven’t exploited that moon yet?
Has anyone seen with their own eyes and a telescope the earthly “debris” that was left there?
Then how do we know 20 July 1969 happened?
That was 49 years ago, there should be vast habitation there now.
Instead of funding warring nations the extremely wealthy should have created a coalition to get this moving. Paging Gates, Bezos, Zuck, Soros, etc.
I’ll ride the first convoy up and supervise construction, stay there til I die, cremated, go back from wence it came.
I am made from the dust of the stars
and the oceans flow in my veins
Here I hide in the heart of the city
like a stranger coming out of the rain
The evening plane rises up from the runway
over constellations of light
I look down into a million houses
and wonder what you’re doing tonight
Presto
FredJuly 21, 2018, 8:23 AM
Except that EV cars are a giant leap backwards.
KerryJuly 21, 2018, 1:03 PM
Ghostsniper! Great reference and most appropriate for this post. When I need something to pick me up out of the doldrums, I have tuned into Presto many times. It’s one of my favorite Rush numbers.
Gordon ScottJuly 24, 2018, 3:36 PM
late, but Ghost: We have pictures from lunar satellites that show the landing sites.
The technology to fake the photos and video of the moon walks didn’t exist.
Apollo 11’s crew deployed a mirror array. Today, if you have a powerful laser, you can laze that array, and record the nearly 3 second delay as the beam is reflected back. It’s pretty hard to fake that delay because of, you know, physics.
butchJuly 20, 2019, 4:29 AM
Bill in Tennessee – We traded the stars for the Great Society. We chose poorly.
RichardJuly 20, 2019, 6:10 AM
Apollo 11 astronaut Neil Armstrong, who became the first man to set foot on the moon earlier in the year, talks to U.S. troops during a surprise appearance with Bob Hope’s Christmas show at the 1st Infantry Division headquarters.
Vietnam 1969
Let the sweet fresh breezes heal me
As they rove around the girth
Of our lovely mother planet
Of the cool, green hills of Earth.
We’ve tried each spinning space mote
And reckoned its true worth:
Take us back again to the homes of men
On the cool, green hills of Earth.
The arching sky is calling
Spacemen back to their trade.
ALL HANDS! STAND BY! FREE FALLING!
And the lights below us fade.
Out ride the sons of Terra,
Far drives the thundering jet,
Up leaps a race of Earthmen,
Out, far, and onward yet —
We pray for one last landing
On the globe that gave us birth;
Let us rest our eyes on the fleecy skies
And the cool, green hills of Earth.
VanderleunJuly 20, 2019, 8:01 AM
I know that poem well from its first publication in a pulp SF magazine… It was somewhere in the back of my mind as I wrote this poem.
Larry GeigerJuly 20, 2019, 9:06 AM
I was at KSC yesterday. Took the bus to the Saturn V center. As you go into the center there is a presentation showing the consoles that were in the LCC for Apollo. My dad was downstairs below the firing rooms on the second floor running the video switcher. The Saturn V is in there on it’s side. It’s a big thing. I saw Apollo 11 lift off. I heard if lift off. I felt it lift off. If they say it didn’t go to the moon, oh well. But it left the earth. I can attest to that.
BunnyJuly 20, 2019, 10:55 AM
Why are people pining for the moon? Humans are made for earth and we haven’t even learned to live well here at home. Must be missing a chromosome or something.
BunnyJuly 20, 2019, 10:57 AM
To make it perfectly clear, I must be lacking because I don’t really get it. Sure, it must have been a great accomplishment, but…
BunnyJuly 20, 2019, 11:30 AM
I wish there were an edit button, then I might post just once. So this is what we got. The ct scan is good, I suppose, the computer chip is debatable. But insoles? https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/science/space/5893387/Apollo-11-moon-landing-top-15-Nasa-inventions.html
Honestly, when I look up at the night sky, I had rather see an inviolable moon and contemplate the beauty and power of God’s creation than think of the junk we left up there. We were, however, all glued to the TV and I think my mother wrote a poem about it.
Buzz Aldrin took communion on the moon. the first food consumed on the moon.
Gordon ScottJuly 21, 2019, 5:44 PM
Andre,
Yes, he did. Apparently Armstrong didn’t like it, but Aldrin didn’t care. As Bill Whittle said in his very good 4-part series, Madeline Murray O’Hair sued NASA over the Genesis reading during Apollo 8’s mission. NASA won, but Whittle describes it as the first example of political correctness; NASA told the astronauts to lay off the religion. So Aldrin’s communion was not made public for many years.
RickJuly 22, 2019, 4:38 AM
I was as big a supporter of the space race as existed. I sucked it all up like a sponge. It’s only now in my dotage that I’ve wondered why the American people went along with the huge expenses and creation of yet another eternal Federal jobs program. Left to me I would defund NASA tomorrow.
But, this is something I wrote to one of my kids about 15 years ago during a conversation we were having about manned space flight.
Take the time to watch all 4 videos. Lots of people are too young to know what an exciting time this was. This was the culmination of the space race started by the USSR (Russia) in 1957 with the launch of Sputnik. It was the biggest technology breakthrough of the time. It’s hard now to understand what a big deal rockets to the moon were. People under the age of 40 have never lived when there were no rockets or spaceflight. To them, this is ancient history and Neil Armstrong is just an old man who once “did something.”
I remember lying on the living room floor of my apartment in Pearl City, Hawaii with my one-month-old son on my chest, watching the descent to the moon, the whole world was watching. Even though space flight was getting better all the time it’s important to remember that the entire field of manned spaceflight was less than 8 years old and that success was certainly not assured. Even if they landed there was no guarantee they could get off again. You could have cut the tension with a knife during the descent to the surface and when they finally touched down my relief was so great I broke down and cried. It was a fantastic, dangerous success and their takeoff days later made it that much better. We were all proud to be Americans,
Days later they came back to earth in the Pacific Ocean. They and their capsule were picked out of the water and taken to Pearl Harbor. I was in the Army stationed at Fort Shafter just a short ride from Pearl Harbor and had a good friend who was a Marine stationed there. Several days after the ship carrying the astronauts got back to Pearl he suggested that we go over to Ford Island and see the space capsule. I didn’t see how that was going to happen but was game to try. Since we were military we had no problems getting into Pearl and then took the ferry over to Ford Island. We walked over toward the hangers and there, sitting all by itself was the Columbia command module. No guards, no fence, no tape, no people. We walked up, felt the surface, talked about the scorch marks, looked in the windows and finally broke off some pieces of the blackened heat shield. My friend Gene had a pill bottle for his pieces but I had nothing but my pocket. No camera, no pictures and when we got home my pieces of the heat shield were just ashes in my pocket. Can you imagine what I’d give for those ashes today?
It is a cool story, one that would be a lot better if I had even kept the ashes. It gets worse. The astronauts were being moved in a converted, self-contained Airstream trailer until they could be checked over for lunar bugs back in Houston. The trailer was being moved on dirt roads between Pearl Harbor and Hickam Field to be loaded in a C-141 for transport back to Houston. It was all semi-secret and not public knowledge. My supervisor asked me if I’d like to go over and take pictures of the big event. I turned him down because it was too much trouble to go to the motor pool and get a car.
Later the photo lab I worked in, I got copies of the negatives of all the photos they shot from the moon. I had a huge stack of 8 X 10s color photos but lost those years later in the divorce war. .
It gets worse. Later I acquired annotated original Mission Control manuals for about 7 of the Apollo missions as well as several Mercury missions. Eventually I sold them on ebay.
VanderleunJuly 22, 2019, 6:55 AM
A great tale, Rick. I share your pain about the divorce wars and how things just can evaporate.
AnonymousJuly 23, 2019, 6:17 AM
Oh, my gosh. I must have read this before, it must have influenced, but I have no conscious recollection of it. My sentiments almost exactly, Mr. Auden, although expressed a bit more harshly than I would ever dare. The reviewer calls it “Grumpy Auden.” Of course, Auden’s musing is also expressed cleverly, flawlessly, not a word out of place, except perhaps “Mneh.” I prefer “Meh.” Even so, “meh” doesn’t really work on a personal level. The moon landing was something, defintely, and not in an Ilhan Omar sort of “something” way. It was a very big deal, however you interpret it. Not wishing to piss in anyone’s Cheerios, as a commenter here once phrased it. https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2019/07/19/audens-grumpy-moon-landing-poem/
Moon Landing by W.H. Auden
It’s natural the Boys should whoop it up for
so huge a phallic triumph, an adventure
it would not have occurred to women
to think worth while, made possible only
because we like huddling in gangs and knowing
the exact time: yes, our sex may in fairness
hurrah the deed, although the motives
that primed it were somewhat less than menschlich.
A grand gesture. But what does it period?
What does it osse? We were always adroiter
with objects than lives, and more facile
at courage than kindness: from the moment
the first flint was flaked this landing was merely
a matter of time. But our selves, like Adam’s,
still don’t fit us exactly, modern
only in this—our lack of decorum.
Homer’s heroes were certainly no braver
than our Trio, but more fortunate: Hector
was excused the insult of having
his valor covered by television.
Worth going to see? I can well believe it.
Worth seeing? Mneh! I once rode through a desert
and was not charmed: give me a watered
lively garden, remote from blatherers
about the New, the von Brauns and their ilk, where
on August mornings I can count the morning
glories where to die has a meaning,
and no engine can shift my perspective.
Unsmudged, thank God, my Moon still queens the Heavens
as She ebbs and fulls, a Presence to glop at,
Her Old Man, made of grit not protein,
still visits my Austrian several
with His old detachment, and the old warnings
still have power to scare me: Hybris comes to
an ugly finish, Irreverence
is a greater oaf than Superstition.
Our apparatniks will continue making
the usual squalid mess called History:
all we can pray for is that artists,
chefs and saints may still appear to blithe it.
BunnyJuly 23, 2019, 6:37 AM
I came across this today and must have read it before and been influenced by it, although I have no conscious recollection. My sentiments almost exactly, Mr. Auden, flawlessly executed. I would have preferred meh to mneh, however. And the event itself wasn’t “mneh” at all, no matter how interpreted. It was a very big deal. The reviewer calls the poem Grumpy Auden, trite, artificial, peevish, contrarian. Meh. I like the poem very much and I like yours, as well, Mr. V. https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2019/07/19/audens-grumpy-moon-landing-poem/
Moon Landing by W.H. Auden
It’s natural the Boys should whoop it up for
so huge a phallic triumph, an adventure
it would not have occurred to women
to think worth while, made possible only
because we like huddling in gangs and knowing
the exact time: yes, our sex may in fairness
hurrah the deed, although the motives
that primed it were somewhat less than menschlich.
A grand gesture. But what does it period?
What does it osse? We were always adroiter
with objects than lives, and more facile
at courage than kindness: from the moment
the first flint was flaked this landing was merely
a matter of time. But our selves, like Adam’s,
still don’t fit us exactly, modern
only in this—our lack of decorum.
Homer’s heroes were certainly no braver
than our Trio, but more fortunate: Hector
was excused the insult of having
his valor covered by television.
Worth going to see? I can well believe it.
Worth seeing? Mneh! I once rode through a desert
and was not charmed: give me a watered
lively garden, remote from blatherers
about the New, the von Brauns and their ilk, where
on August mornings I can count the morning
glories where to die has a meaning,
and no engine can shift my perspective.
Unsmudged, thank God, my Moon still queens the Heavens
as She ebbs and fulls, a Presence to glop at,
Her Old Man, made of grit not protein,
still visits my Austrian several
with His old detachment, and the old warnings
still have power to scare me: Hybris comes to
an ugly finish, Irreverence
is a greater oaf than Superstition.
Our apparatniks will continue making
the usual squalid mess called History:
all we can pray for is that artists,
chefs and saints may still appear to blithe it.
RickJuly 24, 2019, 4:47 AM
Gerard,
Thank you. It was only as I got older that the full realization of how much I had squandered came to me. I resented being in the Army and didn’t fully appreciate the comparisons between my 8-4 job in an air-conditioned building and those who were off in Viet Nam living in the heat and risking death.
The absolute worse part of my moment of kismet with the command module was that I had no camera and I was a photographer for the Army and always had a camera with me!
ghostsniperJuly 21, 2020, 2:32 PM
Rick sed: “…how much I had squandered…”
=======
Oh man. I can’t ponder this much, as the amount of squandering, of time, opportunity, and money, has been immense, and painful to remember. The worst of the 3 was time, as there is no more of it. You get what you have and not one second more. David Gilmour had something to say about that, but I guess I didn’t pay attention… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEGL7j2LN84
Gil Scott-HeronJuly 21, 2020, 10:46 PM
A rat done bit my sister Nell.
(with Whitey on the moon)
Her face and arms began to swell.
(and Whitey’s on the moon)
I can’t pay no doctor bill.
(but Whitey’s on the moon)
Ten years from now I’ll be payin’ still.
(while Whitey’s on the moon)
The man jus’ upped my rent las’ night.
(’cause Whitey’s on the moon)
No hot water, no toilets, no lights.
(but Whitey’s on the moon)
I wonder why he’s uppi’ me?
(’cause Whitey’s on the moon?)
I was already payin’ ‘im fifty a week.
(with Whitey on the moon)
Taxes takin’ my whole damn check,
Junkies makin’ me a nervous wreck,
The price of food is goin’ up,
An’ as if all that shit wasn’t enough
A rat done bit my sister Nell.
(with Whitey on the moon)
Her face an’ arm began to swell.
(but Whitey’s on the moon)
Was all that money I made las’ year
(for Whitey on the moon?)
How come there ain’t no money here?
(Hm! Whitey’s on the moon)
Y’know I jus’ ’bout had my fill
(of Whitey on the moon)
I think I’ll sen’ these doctor bills,
Airmail special
(to Whitey on the moon)
AnonymousJuly 21, 2022, 4:48 AM
Neil Armstrong died today
(with Sambo on the dole)
He’s done picked up and gone away
(and Sambo’s on the dole)
We can’t afford no moonshots now
(with Sambo on the dole)
Ten years from now we’ll be broke still
(with Sambo on the dole)
The man jus’ upped my taxes
(’cause Sambo’s on the dole)
No roads, no parks, no space program
(but Sambo’s on the dole)
I wonder why he’s uppin’ me
(cause Sambo’s on the dole?)
I paid over 50 grand last year
(with Sambo on the dole)
Taxes takin’ my whole damn check,
Gangstas makin’ me a nervous wreck,
The price of food is goin’ up,
An’ as if all that crap wuzn’t enough:
Neil Armstrong died today
(with Sambo on the dole)
He’s done picked up and gone away
(but Sambo’s on the dole)
Was all that money I made las’ year
(for Sambo on the dole?)
How come there ain’t no money here?
(Hmm! Sambo’s on the dole)
Y’know I jus’ ’bout had my fill
(of Sambo on the dole)
I think I’ll sen’ the taxman’s bills,
Airmail special
(to Sambo on the dole)
-Gil Not-Heron
AnonymousJuly 21, 2020, 10:47 PM
Yeah, you’ll keep that one up. Noodle spine.
Fletcher ChristianJuly 23, 2020, 3:06 AM
More from Floyd, a reminder of one reason why we need to go back into the black, this time to stay:
‘In my rear view mirror the sun is going down
Sinking behind bridges in the road
And I think of all the good things
That we have left undone
And I suffer premonitions
Confirm suspicions
Of the holocaust to come.
The wire that holds the cork
That keeps the anger in
Gives way
And suddenly it’s day again.
The sun is in the east
Even though the day is done.
Two suns in the sunset
Hmm
Could be the human race is run.
Like the moment when the brakes lock
And you slide towards the big truck
“Oh no!”
“Daddy, Daddy!”
You stretch the frozen moments with your fear.
And you’ll never hear their voices
And you’ll never see their faces
You have no recourse to the law anymore.
And as the windshield melts
My tears evaporate
Leaving only charcoal to defend.
Finally I understand the feelings of the few.
Ashes and diamonds
Foe and friend
We were all equal in the end.
Minus 20 and counting…19..18..17..16..15..14..13..12..11..10..9..8..7..6..5..
We have ignition
..3..2..1..
We have lift off
Armstrong, Aldrin and Collins were launched away in space
Millions of hearts were lifted, proud of the human race
Space control at Houston, radio command
The team below that gave the go they had God’s helping hand
-there is a foto taken from the vicinity of Jupiter or Saturn, a pinpoint if light.
garyJuly 20, 2021, 12:06 PM
Ode on a Saturn V Burn
When all Adventures have run their courses,
Ouroboros reprising triumphs, tears;
Mountains scaled, no daunting plains before us,
Inconsequence our solitary fear
Memento Mori, wise Ancients once said,
Ozymandian Works nonetheless prevail
What Power, what Honor studying Death?
So… stone, steel skyscraping beyond the Pale
[What’s that? Why the echoing, mournful wail?]
Their serried ranks assail the Sky—soldiers
In a war against triviality.
Frail, Fated to Fall, felled by foreclosure
Motes in the eye of Time’s totality.
Watched over by Luna, silent, benign,
Mistress of the night, Castellan of Stars.
Foolish Creatures, to their Fate she’s resigned
What’s expected, vain devotees of Mars?
Fiery Arc a half-Century past…blasted
Blazing a Trail to Realm once forbidden
Icarus’ waxen Flight, Physics surpassed
Mere minutes in Sun, then Glory hidden.
[Time meaningless in a Universe vast]
Once, Pacific Sea marked civility
Where Westward Wave crested, paused, and rolled back
Another Mare beckoned, Tranquility
Stark silent beauty made up for the lack
[Yet beauty alone did not bring Man back]
Music of the Spheres is said harmonic
Ears, would but they listen to that concert,
Man’s soul part angelic, part demonic;
Their tune would even Lucifer convert.
The die has been broken; there is no going back
We’ve forsaken Luna, to anxiety attack.
VanderleunJuly 20, 2021, 3:31 PM
Nice assail. If you could make the meter work you’d have something special. Still, nice.
andreJuly 20, 2021, 7:16 PM
Buzz Aldrin took communion on the moon. Praise God.
ghostsniperJuly 20, 2022, 4:15 AM
Has it been 53 years already? I was still a kid, 14 years old. The memories seem like a book I read a long time ago and barely remember it. Or a story someone told me about. Where my flyin’ car iz?
My dad and I watched this on TV. I’ll never forget it.
Tom HylandJuly 20, 2022, 8:44 AM
All I’ve ever heard since they whacked JFK is a bunch of lies. To lots of folks here, I guess everything they hear is the truth. Must be nice. SO convenient. When I immediately feel what I’m hearing is a lie then everything makes much more sense. The reason we never went “back to the moon?” Because NASA lost all the technology. The janitor loaded all the boxes into the dumpster and now we can’t go back. What a shame. Lost the whole bunch of it. This is a collection of videos to peruse and some of the most revealing are the Stanley Kubrick interviews. https://beforeitsnews.com/eu/2021/10/the-moon-landing-hoax-must-see-video-2677728.html
Tom HylandJuly 20, 2022, 12:11 PM
Gerard placed a gif into the sidebar… it’s a radio tower transmitting “LIES” in repetition. Take a look at that… contemplate. When have you been told the truth?
VanderleunJuly 20, 2022, 12:51 PM
I’m please somebody is picking up on the visual poems to the side.
John FisherJuly 20, 2022, 10:51 AM
July 20th should be a national holiday.
Fletcher ChristianJuly 20, 2022, 11:02 AM
You may find this reference interesting, a speculation about what a society further in the future than Babylon is in our past will think about Tranquillity Day:
I think that Armstrong and Aldrin will be remembered when the Washington Monument is dust.
VanderleunJuly 20, 2022, 12:42 PM
You are uttely right about that. And their footprints will remain forever. Or until you show me the death of the moon.
Armstrong Day on the Moon calendar is a nice touch.
ghostsniperJuly 20, 2022, 12:53 PM
I likes.
I’ve always been fascinated with simplifying existing norms so that they are easier to learn by young folks and are common sense. Besides calendars and clocks, the english language is another. What a mix up of vacillating rules and irregularities. There are many ways to make the language easier. Look at base 10 numbers, clean, precise, unwavering. The english language, clocks, calendars, and a host of other things could be the same way. Simple, easy.
VanderleunJuly 20, 2022, 12:50 PM
Armstrong Day. The Ultimate Moment of White Supremacy! The day when white folks looked down on everybody.
Real World Address for Donations, Mash Notes and Hate Mail
Gerard Van der Leun
1692 MANGROVE AVE
APT 379
Chico, Ca 95926
Green Pants Interior by Klahn
Who Am I? by Carl Sandburg
My head knocks against the stars.
My feet are on the hilltops.
My finger-tips are in the valleys and shores of universal life.
Down in the sounding foam of primal things I reach my hands and play with pebbles of destiny.
I have been to hell and back many times.
I know all about heaven, for I have talked with God.
I dabble in the blood and guts of the terrible.
I know the passionate seizure of beauty
And the marvelous rebellion of man at all signs reading “Keep Off.”
My name is Truth and I am the most elusive captive in the universe.
Duty, Beauty, Liberty, Country, Honor, Family, Faith — Plus a few simple easy to follow rules for guys
Men saw the stars at the edge of the sea
They thought great thoughts about liberty
Poets wrote down words that did fit
Writers wrote books
Thinkers thought about it
Take it where you find it
Can’t leave it alone
You will find a purpose
To carry it on
Mainly when you find it
Your heart will be strong
About it
Many’s the road I have walked upon
Many’s the hour between dusk and dawn
Many’s the time
Many’s the mile
I see it all now
Through the eyes of a child
Take it where you find it
Can’t leave it alone
You will find a purpose
To carry it on
Mainly when you find it
Your heart will be strong
About it
[Chorus]
Lost dreams and found dreams
In America
In America
In America
Lost dreams and found dreams
In America
In America
In America
And close your eyes
Leave it all for a while
Leave the world
And your worries behind
You will build on whatever is real
And wake up each day
To a new waking dream
Take it where you find it
Can’t leave it alone
You will find a purpose
To carry it on
Mainly when you find it
Your heart will be strong
About it
[Chorus]
Change, change come over
Change come over
Talkin’ about a change
Change, change
Change come over, now
Change, change, change come over
I’m gonna walk down the street
Until I see
My shining light
I’m gonna walk down the street
Until I see
My shining light
I’m gonna walk down the street
Until I see
My shining light
I’m gonna walk down the street
Until I see
My shining light
I see my light
See my light
See my shining light
I see my light
See my light
See my shining light
Gerard Van der Leun
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Such an auspicious day and event, a Sunday, that my parents even allowed us to watch this on teevee. A usually verboten activity for the Lord’s day.
I first (and always) read your poem(s) as presented.
Regarding these poems, sometimes I’m driven to feel the need to read each stanza backwards.
(I’m weird that way.)
It’s those sometimes that I do the smilecry….
Thank you…again. Just fookin wow.
Excellent poetry, again. I’m just a poor technical writer, now retired, and now an alt-right agitator, but I could never rise to this level of writing.
But I do wonder, when I see the full moon, why did we abandon the space program and not return to the moon? If we are ever to escape this crowded prison planet, the moon will need to be our starting point.
My grandmother never believed the Moon Landing actually happened. If questioned about it she’d reply, “Who you gonna believe, me or your own eyes?” Then with a smile she’d say, “that’s Chico Marx in Duck Soup.” My grandmother was a real hoot.
I remember watching it on TV. And I love this poem.
There are very few poets who can put a chill on my spine or a lump in my throat. VanderLeun, Kipling, James Dickey…
JWM
Best blog post today. Not surprised.
The moon! Suck it, Russia! EU? Who??
We got bored, and left the keys in the moon buggy, because we knew we’d be back. Got. To. Love. Cadillac for that one.
Although I will never buy GM again due to their acceptance of terms for the Gubmint bailout, my 2006 Caddy CTS six speed manual has been a fantastic car. Hopefully my last car. Next time I move, I hope it is the cemetary.
Bill in Tennessee, you’re the only person I have ever heard saying the same thing I have for decades.
How can they be shooting stuff at Mars and elsewhere when they haven’t exploited that moon yet?
Has anyone seen with their own eyes and a telescope the earthly “debris” that was left there?
Then how do we know 20 July 1969 happened?
That was 49 years ago, there should be vast habitation there now.
Instead of funding warring nations the extremely wealthy should have created a coalition to get this moving. Paging Gates, Bezos, Zuck, Soros, etc.
I’ll ride the first convoy up and supervise construction, stay there til I die, cremated, go back from wence it came.
I am made from the dust of the stars
and the oceans flow in my veins
Here I hide in the heart of the city
like a stranger coming out of the rain
The evening plane rises up from the runway
over constellations of light
I look down into a million houses
and wonder what you’re doing tonight
Presto
Except that EV cars are a giant leap backwards.
Ghostsniper! Great reference and most appropriate for this post. When I need something to pick me up out of the doldrums, I have tuned into Presto many times. It’s one of my favorite Rush numbers.
late, but Ghost: We have pictures from lunar satellites that show the landing sites.
The technology to fake the photos and video of the moon walks didn’t exist.
Apollo 11’s crew deployed a mirror array. Today, if you have a powerful laser, you can laze that array, and record the nearly 3 second delay as the beam is reflected back. It’s pretty hard to fake that delay because of, you know, physics.
Bill in Tennessee – We traded the stars for the Great Society. We chose poorly.
Apollo 11 astronaut Neil Armstrong, who became the first man to set foot on the moon earlier in the year, talks to U.S. troops during a surprise appearance with Bob Hope’s Christmas show at the 1st Infantry Division headquarters.
Vietnam 1969
https://twitter.com/polishpatriottm/status/1035839892637536256?lang=bg
The Green Hills of Earth
Let the sweet fresh breezes heal me
As they rove around the girth
Of our lovely mother planet
Of the cool, green hills of Earth.
We’ve tried each spinning space mote
And reckoned its true worth:
Take us back again to the homes of men
On the cool, green hills of Earth.
The arching sky is calling
Spacemen back to their trade.
ALL HANDS! STAND BY! FREE FALLING!
And the lights below us fade.
Out ride the sons of Terra,
Far drives the thundering jet,
Up leaps a race of Earthmen,
Out, far, and onward yet —
We pray for one last landing
On the globe that gave us birth;
Let us rest our eyes on the fleecy skies
And the cool, green hills of Earth.
I know that poem well from its first publication in a pulp SF magazine… It was somewhere in the back of my mind as I wrote this poem.
I was at KSC yesterday. Took the bus to the Saturn V center. As you go into the center there is a presentation showing the consoles that were in the LCC for Apollo. My dad was downstairs below the firing rooms on the second floor running the video switcher. The Saturn V is in there on it’s side. It’s a big thing. I saw Apollo 11 lift off. I heard if lift off. I felt it lift off. If they say it didn’t go to the moon, oh well. But it left the earth. I can attest to that.
Why are people pining for the moon? Humans are made for earth and we haven’t even learned to live well here at home. Must be missing a chromosome or something.
To make it perfectly clear, I must be lacking because I don’t really get it. Sure, it must have been a great accomplishment, but…
I wish there were an edit button, then I might post just once. So this is what we got. The ct scan is good, I suppose, the computer chip is debatable. But insoles?
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/science/space/5893387/Apollo-11-moon-landing-top-15-Nasa-inventions.html
Honestly, when I look up at the night sky, I had rather see an inviolable moon and contemplate the beauty and power of God’s creation than think of the junk we left up there. We were, however, all glued to the TV and I think my mother wrote a poem about it.
When’s this Vanderleun fella gonna publish his poems?
Speaking of Chrissie Hynde….
Most awesome….
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=okvl-9svtS0
Buzz Aldrin took communion on the moon. the first food consumed on the moon.
Andre,
Yes, he did. Apparently Armstrong didn’t like it, but Aldrin didn’t care. As Bill Whittle said in his very good 4-part series, Madeline Murray O’Hair sued NASA over the Genesis reading during Apollo 8’s mission. NASA won, but Whittle describes it as the first example of political correctness; NASA told the astronauts to lay off the religion. So Aldrin’s communion was not made public for many years.
I was as big a supporter of the space race as existed. I sucked it all up like a sponge. It’s only now in my dotage that I’ve wondered why the American people went along with the huge expenses and creation of yet another eternal Federal jobs program. Left to me I would defund NASA tomorrow.
But, this is something I wrote to one of my kids about 15 years ago during a conversation we were having about manned space flight.
Take the time to watch all 4 videos. Lots of people are too young to know what an exciting time this was. This was the culmination of the space race started by the USSR (Russia) in 1957 with the launch of Sputnik. It was the biggest technology breakthrough of the time. It’s hard now to understand what a big deal rockets to the moon were. People under the age of 40 have never lived when there were no rockets or spaceflight. To them, this is ancient history and Neil Armstrong is just an old man who once “did something.”
I remember lying on the living room floor of my apartment in Pearl City, Hawaii with my one-month-old son on my chest, watching the descent to the moon, the whole world was watching. Even though space flight was getting better all the time it’s important to remember that the entire field of manned spaceflight was less than 8 years old and that success was certainly not assured. Even if they landed there was no guarantee they could get off again. You could have cut the tension with a knife during the descent to the surface and when they finally touched down my relief was so great I broke down and cried. It was a fantastic, dangerous success and their takeoff days later made it that much better. We were all proud to be Americans,
Days later they came back to earth in the Pacific Ocean. They and their capsule were picked out of the water and taken to Pearl Harbor. I was in the Army stationed at Fort Shafter just a short ride from Pearl Harbor and had a good friend who was a Marine stationed there. Several days after the ship carrying the astronauts got back to Pearl he suggested that we go over to Ford Island and see the space capsule. I didn’t see how that was going to happen but was game to try. Since we were military we had no problems getting into Pearl and then took the ferry over to Ford Island. We walked over toward the hangers and there, sitting all by itself was the Columbia command module. No guards, no fence, no tape, no people. We walked up, felt the surface, talked about the scorch marks, looked in the windows and finally broke off some pieces of the blackened heat shield. My friend Gene had a pill bottle for his pieces but I had nothing but my pocket. No camera, no pictures and when we got home my pieces of the heat shield were just ashes in my pocket. Can you imagine what I’d give for those ashes today?
It is a cool story, one that would be a lot better if I had even kept the ashes. It gets worse. The astronauts were being moved in a converted, self-contained Airstream trailer until they could be checked over for lunar bugs back in Houston. The trailer was being moved on dirt roads between Pearl Harbor and Hickam Field to be loaded in a C-141 for transport back to Houston. It was all semi-secret and not public knowledge. My supervisor asked me if I’d like to go over and take pictures of the big event. I turned him down because it was too much trouble to go to the motor pool and get a car.
Later the photo lab I worked in, I got copies of the negatives of all the photos they shot from the moon. I had a huge stack of 8 X 10s color photos but lost those years later in the divorce war. .
It gets worse. Later I acquired annotated original Mission Control manuals for about 7 of the Apollo missions as well as several Mercury missions. Eventually I sold them on ebay.
A great tale, Rick. I share your pain about the divorce wars and how things just can evaporate.
Oh, my gosh. I must have read this before, it must have influenced, but I have no conscious recollection of it. My sentiments almost exactly, Mr. Auden, although expressed a bit more harshly than I would ever dare. The reviewer calls it “Grumpy Auden.” Of course, Auden’s musing is also expressed cleverly, flawlessly, not a word out of place, except perhaps “Mneh.” I prefer “Meh.” Even so, “meh” doesn’t really work on a personal level. The moon landing was something, defintely, and not in an Ilhan Omar sort of “something” way. It was a very big deal, however you interpret it. Not wishing to piss in anyone’s Cheerios, as a commenter here once phrased it.
https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2019/07/19/audens-grumpy-moon-landing-poem/
Moon Landing by W.H. Auden
It’s natural the Boys should whoop it up for
so huge a phallic triumph, an adventure
it would not have occurred to women
to think worth while, made possible only
because we like huddling in gangs and knowing
the exact time: yes, our sex may in fairness
hurrah the deed, although the motives
that primed it were somewhat less than menschlich.
A grand gesture. But what does it period?
What does it osse? We were always adroiter
with objects than lives, and more facile
at courage than kindness: from the moment
the first flint was flaked this landing was merely
a matter of time. But our selves, like Adam’s,
still don’t fit us exactly, modern
only in this—our lack of decorum.
Homer’s heroes were certainly no braver
than our Trio, but more fortunate: Hector
was excused the insult of having
his valor covered by television.
Worth going to see? I can well believe it.
Worth seeing? Mneh! I once rode through a desert
and was not charmed: give me a watered
lively garden, remote from blatherers
about the New, the von Brauns and their ilk, where
on August mornings I can count the morning
glories where to die has a meaning,
and no engine can shift my perspective.
Unsmudged, thank God, my Moon still queens the Heavens
as She ebbs and fulls, a Presence to glop at,
Her Old Man, made of grit not protein,
still visits my Austrian several
with His old detachment, and the old warnings
still have power to scare me: Hybris comes to
an ugly finish, Irreverence
is a greater oaf than Superstition.
Our apparatniks will continue making
the usual squalid mess called History:
all we can pray for is that artists,
chefs and saints may still appear to blithe it.
I came across this today and must have read it before and been influenced by it, although I have no conscious recollection. My sentiments almost exactly, Mr. Auden, flawlessly executed. I would have preferred meh to mneh, however. And the event itself wasn’t “mneh” at all, no matter how interpreted. It was a very big deal. The reviewer calls the poem Grumpy Auden, trite, artificial, peevish, contrarian. Meh. I like the poem very much and I like yours, as well, Mr. V.
https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2019/07/19/audens-grumpy-moon-landing-poem/
Moon Landing by W.H. Auden
It’s natural the Boys should whoop it up for
so huge a phallic triumph, an adventure
it would not have occurred to women
to think worth while, made possible only
because we like huddling in gangs and knowing
the exact time: yes, our sex may in fairness
hurrah the deed, although the motives
that primed it were somewhat less than menschlich.
A grand gesture. But what does it period?
What does it osse? We were always adroiter
with objects than lives, and more facile
at courage than kindness: from the moment
the first flint was flaked this landing was merely
a matter of time. But our selves, like Adam’s,
still don’t fit us exactly, modern
only in this—our lack of decorum.
Homer’s heroes were certainly no braver
than our Trio, but more fortunate: Hector
was excused the insult of having
his valor covered by television.
Worth going to see? I can well believe it.
Worth seeing? Mneh! I once rode through a desert
and was not charmed: give me a watered
lively garden, remote from blatherers
about the New, the von Brauns and their ilk, where
on August mornings I can count the morning
glories where to die has a meaning,
and no engine can shift my perspective.
Unsmudged, thank God, my Moon still queens the Heavens
as She ebbs and fulls, a Presence to glop at,
Her Old Man, made of grit not protein,
still visits my Austrian several
with His old detachment, and the old warnings
still have power to scare me: Hybris comes to
an ugly finish, Irreverence
is a greater oaf than Superstition.
Our apparatniks will continue making
the usual squalid mess called History:
all we can pray for is that artists,
chefs and saints may still appear to blithe it.
Gerard,
Thank you. It was only as I got older that the full realization of how much I had squandered came to me. I resented being in the Army and didn’t fully appreciate the comparisons between my 8-4 job in an air-conditioned building and those who were off in Viet Nam living in the heat and risking death.
The absolute worse part of my moment of kismet with the command module was that I had no camera and I was a photographer for the Army and always had a camera with me!
Rick sed: “…how much I had squandered…”
=======
Oh man. I can’t ponder this much, as the amount of squandering, of time, opportunity, and money, has been immense, and painful to remember. The worst of the 3 was time, as there is no more of it. You get what you have and not one second more. David Gilmour had something to say about that, but I guess I didn’t pay attention… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEGL7j2LN84
A rat done bit my sister Nell.
(with Whitey on the moon)
Her face and arms began to swell.
(and Whitey’s on the moon)
I can’t pay no doctor bill.
(but Whitey’s on the moon)
Ten years from now I’ll be payin’ still.
(while Whitey’s on the moon)
The man jus’ upped my rent las’ night.
(’cause Whitey’s on the moon)
No hot water, no toilets, no lights.
(but Whitey’s on the moon)
I wonder why he’s uppi’ me?
(’cause Whitey’s on the moon?)
I was already payin’ ‘im fifty a week.
(with Whitey on the moon)
Taxes takin’ my whole damn check,
Junkies makin’ me a nervous wreck,
The price of food is goin’ up,
An’ as if all that shit wasn’t enough
A rat done bit my sister Nell.
(with Whitey on the moon)
Her face an’ arm began to swell.
(but Whitey’s on the moon)
Was all that money I made las’ year
(for Whitey on the moon?)
How come there ain’t no money here?
(Hm! Whitey’s on the moon)
Y’know I jus’ ’bout had my fill
(of Whitey on the moon)
I think I’ll sen’ these doctor bills,
Airmail special
(to Whitey on the moon)
Neil Armstrong died today
(with Sambo on the dole)
He’s done picked up and gone away
(and Sambo’s on the dole)
We can’t afford no moonshots now
(with Sambo on the dole)
Ten years from now we’ll be broke still
(with Sambo on the dole)
The man jus’ upped my taxes
(’cause Sambo’s on the dole)
No roads, no parks, no space program
(but Sambo’s on the dole)
I wonder why he’s uppin’ me
(cause Sambo’s on the dole?)
I paid over 50 grand last year
(with Sambo on the dole)
Taxes takin’ my whole damn check,
Gangstas makin’ me a nervous wreck,
The price of food is goin’ up,
An’ as if all that crap wuzn’t enough:
Neil Armstrong died today
(with Sambo on the dole)
He’s done picked up and gone away
(but Sambo’s on the dole)
Was all that money I made las’ year
(for Sambo on the dole?)
How come there ain’t no money here?
(Hmm! Sambo’s on the dole)
Y’know I jus’ ’bout had my fill
(of Sambo on the dole)
I think I’ll sen’ the taxman’s bills,
Airmail special
(to Sambo on the dole)
-Gil Not-Heron
Yeah, you’ll keep that one up. Noodle spine.
More from Floyd, a reminder of one reason why we need to go back into the black, this time to stay:
‘In my rear view mirror the sun is going down
Sinking behind bridges in the road
And I think of all the good things
That we have left undone
And I suffer premonitions
Confirm suspicions
Of the holocaust to come.
The wire that holds the cork
That keeps the anger in
Gives way
And suddenly it’s day again.
The sun is in the east
Even though the day is done.
Two suns in the sunset
Hmm
Could be the human race is run.
Like the moment when the brakes lock
And you slide towards the big truck
“Oh no!”
“Daddy, Daddy!”
You stretch the frozen moments with your fear.
And you’ll never hear their voices
And you’ll never see their faces
You have no recourse to the law anymore.
And as the windshield melts
My tears evaporate
Leaving only charcoal to defend.
Finally I understand the feelings of the few.
Ashes and diamonds
Foe and friend
We were all equal in the end.
“And now the weather. Tomorrow will be cloudy with scattered showers
Spreading from the east with an expected high of 4000 degrees
Celsius”‘
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=21&v=zOJHz6Przdw&feature=emb_logo
what kind of “salute” is that (pictured)?
Armstrong, Aldrin and Collins
The Byrds
Minus 20 and counting…19..18..17..16..15..14..13..12..11..10..9..8..7..6..5..
We have ignition
..3..2..1..
We have lift off
Armstrong, Aldrin and Collins were launched away in space
Millions of hearts were lifted, proud of the human race
Space control at Houston, radio command
The team below that gave the go they had God’s helping hand
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLLDQhA1Z7c
“The Blue Marble”
-there is a foto taken from the vicinity of Jupiter or Saturn, a pinpoint if light.
Ode on a Saturn V Burn
When all Adventures have run their courses,
Ouroboros reprising triumphs, tears;
Mountains scaled, no daunting plains before us,
Inconsequence our solitary fear
Memento Mori, wise Ancients once said,
Ozymandian Works nonetheless prevail
What Power, what Honor studying Death?
So… stone, steel skyscraping beyond the Pale
[What’s that? Why the echoing, mournful wail?]
Their serried ranks assail the Sky—soldiers
In a war against triviality.
Frail, Fated to Fall, felled by foreclosure
Motes in the eye of Time’s totality.
Watched over by Luna, silent, benign,
Mistress of the night, Castellan of Stars.
Foolish Creatures, to their Fate she’s resigned
What’s expected, vain devotees of Mars?
Fiery Arc a half-Century past…blasted
Blazing a Trail to Realm once forbidden
Icarus’ waxen Flight, Physics surpassed
Mere minutes in Sun, then Glory hidden.
[Time meaningless in a Universe vast]
Once, Pacific Sea marked civility
Where Westward Wave crested, paused, and rolled back
Another Mare beckoned, Tranquility
Stark silent beauty made up for the lack
[Yet beauty alone did not bring Man back]
Music of the Spheres is said harmonic
Ears, would but they listen to that concert,
Man’s soul part angelic, part demonic;
Their tune would even Lucifer convert.
The die has been broken; there is no going back
We’ve forsaken Luna, to anxiety attack.
Nice assail. If you could make the meter work you’d have something special. Still, nice.
Buzz Aldrin took communion on the moon. Praise God.
Has it been 53 years already? I was still a kid, 14 years old. The memories seem like a book I read a long time ago and barely remember it. Or a story someone told me about. Where my flyin’ car iz?
Just a few more years.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/autos/news/hyundai-subsidiary-unveils-flying-car-concept-that-could-fly-us-skies-by-2028/ar-AAZKRrM
My dad and I watched this on TV. I’ll never forget it.
All I’ve ever heard since they whacked JFK is a bunch of lies. To lots of folks here, I guess everything they hear is the truth. Must be nice. SO convenient. When I immediately feel what I’m hearing is a lie then everything makes much more sense. The reason we never went “back to the moon?” Because NASA lost all the technology. The janitor loaded all the boxes into the dumpster and now we can’t go back. What a shame. Lost the whole bunch of it. This is a collection of videos to peruse and some of the most revealing are the Stanley Kubrick interviews. https://beforeitsnews.com/eu/2021/10/the-moon-landing-hoax-must-see-video-2677728.html
Gerard placed a gif into the sidebar… it’s a radio tower transmitting “LIES” in repetition. Take a look at that… contemplate. When have you been told the truth?
I’m please somebody is picking up on the visual poems to the side.
July 20th should be a national holiday.
You may find this reference interesting, a speculation about what a society further in the future than Babylon is in our past will think about Tranquillity Day:
https://www.orionsarm.com/eg-article/48c6d4c3d54cf
I think that Armstrong and Aldrin will be remembered when the Washington Monument is dust.
You are uttely right about that. And their footprints will remain forever. Or until you show me the death of the moon.
Armstrong Day on the Moon calendar is a nice touch.
I likes.
I’ve always been fascinated with simplifying existing norms so that they are easier to learn by young folks and are common sense. Besides calendars and clocks, the english language is another. What a mix up of vacillating rules and irregularities. There are many ways to make the language easier. Look at base 10 numbers, clean, precise, unwavering. The english language, clocks, calendars, and a host of other things could be the same way. Simple, easy.
Armstrong Day. The Ultimate Moment of White Supremacy! The day when white folks looked down on everybody.
Whitey Rules! We mooned everyone!
YAY, WE’RE GOING BACK TO THE MOON!!! 🇺🇸 🚀🌕
“A successful mission will poise the agency to fly astronauts around the moon in 2023 and attempt a lunar landing as soon as 2025.”
https://www.foxnews.com/us/nasa-sets-launch-dates-return-moon-giant-new-rocket