The Night The World Stood Still

Earthrise

We received the news late one night

there was to be a special show

A broadcast from the Moon to the Earth

of what we had no way to know

 

I was a boy then nine years old

the Moon seemed exciting and cool

As each of the rockets took off

we would get to watch them in school

 

This time something was different

it was on Christmas eve that year

The pictures sent back from the moon

made it seem as if it were near

 

The commander then addressed us

showing pictures he called Earthrise

He began reading from Genesis

my mother wiped tears from her eyes

 

The viewers numbered in billions

for the first time we were all free

To hope and dream of a future

and the wonders of what may be

 

The whole of the Earth held their breath

for that moment in history

When we learned how it felt to say

every soul on Earth was like me

 

That was man's greatest achievement

not the landing upon the Moon

Planting the seeds of brotherhood

in fertile soil where they might bloom

 

That night the heavens echoed out

a cry that felt more like a plea

That shook the core of modern man

all the way to Antiquity

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The Saturn 5 Moonrocket

 

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Author's Note

I remember that night as if it were yesterday. It was Christmas eve 1968. The missions to the Moon which originally were an attempt to beat the Russians. Turned out to be more than the sum of their parts. It was a great time to be an American. But on that night there were no nationalities. As we looked back upon that little blue marble in the vastness of space. I realized everyone who ever lived came from there. from Adam to Da vinci. The largest crowd in history watched in awe that night as Apollo 8 rounded the Moon. Then without a script the crew decided that they would read from Genesis. "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day. Then from the mission commander came " From the crew of Apollo 8. We wish you all a Merry Christmas all of you on the good Earth." I had never seen an adult cry as my mother did. And on TV the members of Mission command were all in tears as well. As each and every one realized the enormity of what they were doing. Martin Luther King, Bobbie Kennedy and John F Kennedy had all been assassinated in that decade. The world seemed poised to tear itself apart. But for that brief moment something grander in the human spirit shook the world. It brought us back from the brink. It is hard to imagine now but they did all this with little more than a slide rule. I remember my great great grandmother who had been born in 1878 and was then 90 yrs old watching in absolute astonishment. As a boy at the time I remember we all studied math and science. We knew that was essential to passing the grade as an astronaut. To us the old idea of wanting to be a fireman or policeman was now for slackers. We wanted to be hero's. We watched fearless men who knew they were atop the worlds largest Roman Candle. Any one of which could in an instant become the tragic Titanic of the age. Most astronauts seemed not to fear anything or anyone. To a boy of nine they were the personification of the pioneering men who won the west. They lit the fuses of those candles and rose into the heavens. Taking the hopes and dreams of this little boy, all of his friends and the rest of humanity along with them for the ride. I have to admit the Americans know how to put on a show. Who else would take a four wheel drive golf cart to the moon to play golf?
This was mans finest hour! I was watching the history channel the other day. A World War two veteran and holder of the Congressional Medal of Honor was speaking about his latest talk to a high school. He said he was introduced by a high-school senior as being a veteran of World War Eleven. If this is the case we will never walk on the moon again in our lifetimes.
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Reviews

[*~*Butterfly Kisses*~*]

My mother used to tell me stories growing up of all the wild achievements we made while she was growing up because I had such interest in the moon and the universe. Her words of this day in particular was "the world stood still when we finally made it to the moon, everyone around the world stopped what they were doing to watch a television." Amazing how one moment in time finally brought the world together for one momentous occasion even if it was just one night. Awesome poem. Nicely done, Tate!

~Anna Rose

[Chris Yip]

Congrats on your award!!

[Chris Yip]

Great poem for a momentous event! Well written and well received. must have been the wonder years for u then. Those were the good old days.

Enjoyed David Lewis Paget's poem.

[Luke Ritta]

very good work....loved it!

[.]

I like the sentiment in this one..tate..whether this was the greatest acheivement of man remains to be seen..but your call to become a brotherhood held together by the evolution of man and what we could be..was touching..solid rhyme and meter as always..

[Wendy Seames Garner]

Wonderful memories, I was sixteen at the time and remember everyone huddled around the TV. It was one of those moments in life that stand out in your mind forever. I love the last stanza of your poem! I had never thought of that, but you are right. Great poem!

[Arielle Ann]

this was nice...I mean how you related the scientific achievement to humanitarian grounds....insightful lessons you have endorsed in the mind of a casual reader!

[Me]

Afraid I'm with Mary..don't recall this event. I do recall the first moon landing vividly though! Nice nostalgic write

[Kenneth The Poet]

Wish I could have seen that.

[J Todd Underhill]

I got a second read request for this and did reread this and it seems that this has become a place for sharing memories of where you were or the stories you have heard about the first moon landing. I would be remiss if I didn't share mine. Mind you I was born in 1971 so I missed the first one. My mother though shared with me her memories of the first moon landing and I shall share them. She said my brother had just been born and no one knew what to expect when it happened, she had convinced herself that it would be the end of the world, so she grabbed my brother and hid under the kitchen table. Then she realized she could not see the TV so she left him under the table and positioned the TV to where she could see the TV from her safe spot under the table and returned to my brother. I asked her what she thought was so magical about being under the kitchen table that would protect her from the end of the world. She told me to quit making fun of her! ;)

[Elaenor Aisling]

I remember my dad describing watching the moon landing on TV when he was a teenager. Great work.