{"id":1102,"date":"2016-08-18T05:43:45","date_gmt":"2016-08-18T05:43:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/space-lectures.com\/?p=1102"},"modified":"2016-08-18T05:43:45","modified_gmt":"2016-08-18T05:43:45","slug":"poems-a-tribute-to-apollo-credit-robin-spina","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/space-lectures.com\/2016\/08\/poems-a-tribute-to-apollo-credit-robin-spina\/","title":{"rendered":"Poems: A Tribute To Apollo"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The first of the following two poems by Robin Spina was inspired by Mike Collins “I imagined him walking past his Apollo 11 command module on display in the museum, conscious of the fact that he was once inside it, a quarter of a million miles away, alone with no radio contact behind the moon<\/em>“<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

A Legacy for Michael Collins\u00a9<\/h2>\n

The loneliest man since a lonely Adam
\nWas his instructed legacy to follow,
\nHe so mightily maneuvered the cosmos,
\nIn a magical machine of Apollo.<\/p>\n

Michael, was always third, and, the other,
\nNot due to lagging; but, to fortune\u2019s wheel;
\nThe moon saw him as third of three,
\nPlaced behind denizens Edwin and Neil.<\/p>\n

But when the aforementioned frolicked
\nAnd recorded history down in luna\u2019s dust,
\nIt was Michael, now alone in the dark,
\nWhom the denizen\u2019s lives they\u2019d entrust.<\/p>\n

Only except for Adam before Eve,
\nHis aloneness was unique in history.
\nNo visions or voices from his mankind,
\nHad earlier prospected this periphery.<\/p>\n

His ship\u2026 salvation\u2026 a borrowed safe haven,
\nFrom where Michael and his universe starred;
\nHis ethereal home far away from his Rome\u2026
\nColumbia has a soul\u2026 reluctance to discard.<\/p>\n

This earth emissary-carrying conveyance
\nEarned its keep, allotment, time to sleep;
\nNow perched\u2026 stationary and motionless,
\nEntrusted\u2026 but a machine\u2026 so not to weep.<\/p>\n

Columbia\u2026 caretaker, protector of its men,
\nPlaced and positioned in Michael\u2019s museum.
\nColumbia\u2026 Apollo-sired; but, born of terra,
\nStellar, optimal, and purveyor of carpe diem.<\/p>\n

Michael\u2019s museum, Columbia there rests,
\nAnd no longer needed, depended to ascend;
\nAs Michael, aware, walks by, emboldened,
\nSmiling prejudiced, proudly, his old friend.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Next is “a tribute to the Apollo program and all it’s missions<\/em>“.<\/p>\n

The Legend Of Apollo\u00a9<\/h2>\n

The first of these 3-manned flights
\nEmbarked so with Schirra\u2019s Apollo 7;
\nPreparing humankind for unseen sights
\nMerited of Apollo 1\u2019s 3, now in heaven.<\/p>\n

Next, Apollo 8 was so mightier than all,
\nFinally, leaving earth for the moon;
\nedge-of-seat drama\u2026 but without flaw,
\nfrom \u201cin the beginning\u201d to Pacific noon.<\/p>\n

The moon could be reached, they knew,
\nNow\u2026 but if only to land and return;
\nand, with each day our confidence grew
\nand time to soon \u2018go\u2019 they would discern.<\/p>\n

Introducing the spidery LEM into space,
\nAnd one ship literally becoming two;
\nAs Apollo 9\u2019s separated, flew with grace
\nAnd, two halves far apart they flew.<\/p>\n

Survival so far, all tribulations and trials,
\nCollective prayers working\u2026 and amen;
\nThey would peruse within 9 mere miles
\nAs this the bold mission of Apollo 10.<\/p>\n

Now\u2026 it was time, mankind was of age,
\nHumankind\u2019s dream was suddenly real;
\nSo\u2026 3 were chosen to lose an earthly cage
\nAnd, destiny chose Mike, Edwin, and Neil.<\/p>\n

Recently inconceivable this could be achieved,
\nThis event being sent to a pebble of heaven;
\nThe most reverent, since Adam was conceived,
\nIn Honor of: the epochal flight of Apollo 11.<\/p>\n

Now, once wasn\u2019t enough so they dare go again,
\nConrad\u2019s Apollo 12 was dubbed this machine;
\nLanding were luck, God and Intrepid\u2019s two men,
\nBut, this was the last for now, He had seen.<\/p>\n

It was decreed that no third landing would they earn
\nAs Lovell\u2019s Apollo 13 was finger-pointed by fate;
\nBut a first\u2026 the world prayed for a victimless return
\nA pray-together stay-together world shows no hate.<\/p>\n

Apollo 14 was up and allotted the next lunar look
\nWith the first staccato roar ever delayed by rain;
\nAs Al\u2019s golf shot travelled with nary a hook
\nAfter they landed, so far in most rugged terrain.<\/p>\n

Apollo 15\u2019s J-mission was next and a first, by far,
\nAs Endeavor observed much more to explore still;
\nScott and Irwin, egressing craters in an electric car
\nAfter Falcon grappled the marsh at Hadley-Rille.<\/p>\n

When Young and Duke, next, made their try,
\nit was almost haphazard and without purpose;
\nbut, the universe didn\u2019t yet bear say goodbye,
\nand allowed Apollo 16 on hallowed surface.<\/p>\n

Our heavenly interests became crippled and lame,
\nand could barely hold for just one more flight;
\nthe final 7\u00bd million pounds of thrust to tame
\nwas a conclusion\u2026 a memorial to launch by night.<\/p>\n

Apollo 17 glitched\u2026 a delay before it went away,
\nbut destiny, luck and men quickly found remedy;
\nthey say it transformed a blackened night into day
\nwhen Challenger and America left Cape Kennedy.<\/p>\n

What an honor, to be allotted among few chosen,
\nto land, leap and live in luna\u2019s grandeur, mystery;
\nbut the forever flame of Apollo was finally frozen,
\nas Cernan and Schmidt were its last in history.<\/p>\n

Glorious. John\u2019s bold goal grasped for the ages,
\nReaching it, suddenly releasing it, utter dismay;
\nUnbridled enthusiasm snuffed, regress to cages,
\nApollo jailed\u2026 impaled\u2026 as it handed us
\nimmortality, so\u2026 to throw it all away.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The first of the following two poems by Robin Spina was inspired by Mike Collins “I imagined him walking past his Apollo 11 command module on display in the museum, conscious of the fact that he was once inside it, a quarter of a million miles away, alone with no radio contact behind the moon“ […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nPoems: A Tribute To Apollo - Space Lectures<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/space-lectures.com\/2016\/08\/poems-a-tribute-to-apollo-credit-robin-spina\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Poems: A Tribute To Apollo - 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