The Night The World Stood Still

A Poem by Tate Morgan

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

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

Tate


Available Now	Available Now

The Saturn 5 Moonrocket

© 2013 Tate Morgan

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!

My Review

Would you like to review this Poem?
Login | Register

Featured Review

*~*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

Posted 1 Year Ago

2 of 2 people found this review constructive.

Reviews

K. D. Kromminga

Not Sure where to begin with this. I was too young to actually see the moon landing itself, missing it by a few years, but dreams of space, space technology, exploration etc. have lit my imagination since a very young age. Point in fact my first published story was a Science-Fiction Space Opera that spanned from Earth to the red giant of Aldebaron--not very great an area on a cosmic scale, but a 68 light years vast uncharted abyss of space in the eyes of a young writer. Alien moons and rocket ships were two of the primary symbols that connected that story together, symbolizing the vast loneliness of space that the astronauts bravely dared to enter, explore and live in on a daily basis.

Posted 2 Months Ago

2 Months Ago

Thank you I took my daughter to space camp in Georgia she was amazed at the size of the Saturn 5 But.. read more

Jade Leilani

Very moving piece to commemorate the idea of not just landing on the moon, but a uniting of humanity in awe.

Posted 7 Months Ago

Katrina Mckeown

beautifully captivated time peice, very expressive with great use of imagary, thank-you for sharing a most enjoyable peice of history! :)

Posted 11 Months Ago

1 of 1 people found this review constructive.

TL Boehm

my parents have a picture of the lunar landing that is in my opinion "iconic" it was taken with the Polaroid - a snapshot of the black and white TV - I think my mom had those glass grape clusters atop the TV and you can see the wood paneled wall. I was what...four?
Loved this walk back through time....

Posted 11 Months Ago

Genevieve

This gave me chills, the good kind lol. It's a bit before my time but my parents used to talk about that day. Reading this reminds me of my brother as a boy wanting to watch the televised launching of rockets, satelites and spaceships dreaming of being an astronaut. All hope and promise, all of the innocence before he had to grow up. Loved it. :) Thanks for the trip down memory lane.

Posted 12 Months Ago

Stacey Watts

Very well written here. I missed that time. I was not here on the earth yet. I can imagine what a awesome time it was in a child's mind as a an adult. History in the making is always very cool.

Posted 1 Year Ago

Donald Cole

I was 4, i don't remember but I learned. A definate piece of history

Posted 1 Year Ago

Mauricio Montoya

Awesome!

Posted 1 Year Ago

eatmills

I was eleven when they launched Columbia. It had really captured my imagination and caught me a detention as all I did was to look at the replay on the T.V. in the school library and decided I need not go back to class.

Tate, I really enjoyed your poem, very refined and well-formed. Thank you for the entry and capturing that incredible moment in history.

Posted 1 Year Ago

msharma

Dear writer on reading the first line itself of the poem one is able to guess about the even tof Man's first landing on the moon,though not born during those times I am able to feel the feel the world must have had felt,it also shows the might of America in terms of Science and Technology.