Monday, July 20, 2009

Moon

Being tenants of this Earth
we gave praise to spaciousness,
while filling in the barrenness
with mud-huts and sticks.

The challenge and promise
to advance, gave sunlight new meaning:

Fields tilled; berries picked; and,
weather reports, occupied the farmer's thoughts

For stretching into Spring seemed an eye's-blink
of each great leap of an accounts book's
figures.

I often think of Armstrong's hand;
the way in which it had blocked-out the Earth.

Space,
no longer free of an individuals destiny,
seeks the smallness
of great things.

This is what the Sharecropper knew,
as those first steps were taken,

and, our deeds,
live on

in a Timeless, transcendent,



space.

`x~William H. Balzac ~ copyright~7/20/09.







2 comments:

Erin Davis said...

Love the connection between the sharecropper and the wisdom of space.

William H. Balzac said...

Erin~~I was trying to make a connection [Historical] to what We, as a Nation, have done with the land. The Sharecropper has always been a piece of history which is seldom looked at in a complete way [Our movement, from Slavery to Sharecropping & the death of King Cotton..White & Black were exploited by this system of farming. The Great Migration to the Cities, brought so many changes to our perceptions of Race & Society...What we do with our "spaces"...]

I wanted the poem to be many shaded; flashes in tone & memory. Of course, the entire thing hangs on Exploration & the Moon landing...a view of Earth.

Thanks, for picking up on the Sharecropper element. You're a good reader.

**