"We leave the moon as we came and, God willing, as we shall return, with peace and hope for all mankind. "
--Eugene A. Cernan, December 14, 1972.
We walked on the moon in '69,
Didn't seem like much of a thing at the time.
We had the moon and we never went back.
We forgot our dreams, or just lost track.
Oh, there were rockets, and wonders, and Viet Nam,
protesting the war, protesting the bomb.
Gotta take some time and just get high,
had to bust our balls to just get by.
We looked back on our planet from out in space
a tiny and fragile and beautiful place
then we came back home, and sorta forgot,
didn't really give it another thought.
There were Watergate plumbers, and marches for peace,
dodging the draft and the Chicago police,
We just had to lay back and just get high;
we were busting our balls just getting by.
We walked on the moon in '69,
didn't seem like much of a thing at the time.
We went to the moon and just never went back.
Did we forget our dreams, or just lose track?
first published in Analog, Sept. 2008
Page by Geoffrey A. Landis
2008