Apollo 19

I’m writing this in a cellar, deep

In the earth, by candlelight,

Keeping my head down nightly from

The fall of meteorites,

New York is totally empty, like

The rest of the world, I bet,

The buildings stand, but you’re still not here,

You haven’t caught up with us yet.

 

The mission was rather secretive

The last of the current set,

The Saturn V’s were in overdrive

Though NASA was deep in debt,

It was one last fling at the race in space

When we left, that afternoon,

And headed out for a crater, placed

On the dark side of the moon.

 

There was no overt publicity,

You didn’t know that we went,

They said that it was the only way

To avoid an argument,

So there we were on a course that should

Be part of our history,

But you never knew this Apollo flew

Right into a mystery.

 

There was nothing to show, all systems go

‘Til we sailed around the side,

All transmission was ended and

Our earth reception died,

The Captain, Jeremy Hanson scanned

While we sat down to wait,

Cramped in the lunar module there

For crater 308.

 

We blasted off and we flew straight down

To sit on the crater’s floor,

We didn’t know what we’d find down there

No man had been there before,

When we clambered out, each filled with doubt

We couldn’t believe our eyes,

For there was a massive, ancient ship

Of a quite incredible size.

 

At first we thought it was dead and done,

Been there for a thousand years,

Covered in rust and lava dust

With all that that infers,

But presently there we saw a beam

Begin to flash in the night,

It flashed alternate red and green

And gave us a terrible fright.

 

A section started to open up

A stair that led inside,

‘What do we do?’ ‘It’s up to you!’

Said astronaut McBride,

I knew we’d never forgive ourselves

If we didn’t explore the ship,

I said, ‘I’m game!’ He said the same,

We were wary, I admit.

 

We made our way to an upper deck

But there wasn’t a sign of life,

Just a million L.E.D’s

And a thousand flashing lights,

The ship was running on nuclear power

The reactor panel glowed,

‘So why is the thing still sitting here?’

McBride said, ‘Who would know?’

 

He reached on out and he flicked a switch

Before I could say ‘Don’t touch!’

His hand lit up and a beam came down

And it turned McBride to dust,

I turned and ran for the stairway then

It was more than I could take,

Jumped back in the module, called the ship,

‘We’ve made a grave mistake!’

 

I didn’t get any answer then

So I launched back to the ship,

Flicked the switch for the auto-dock

And I sat there, feeling sick,

I climbed back into the cabin, saw

The Captain sitting still,

But stared on into his visor, and

The sight gave me a chill.

 

For staring back was a skeleton,

All that was left of him,

And I was the only astronaut,

The only living thing,

I set the course in a sweat, engaged

The auto-pilot too,

The date whirled round on the panel

Stated, 2022.

 

And now I wander a city that

Exists ahead of mine,

While you’re all living in ‘78

I’m stuck in another time,

You people haven’t arrived just yet

To fill the city’s streets,

But now it’s blasted with meteorites

That seem to arrive in fleets.

 

And up above is a mother ship

That hovers out in space,

It must have waited a thousand years

In crater 308,

The crew is dead but the program said

To follow all signs of life,

To track it back to its starting place

Attack it with meteorites.

 

I leave this missive ahead of you

To warn of a coming fate,

You’d better go up with a nuclear bomb

To crater 308,

I’m hoping that you can reach the ship

Before it starts to climb,

And save the earth from a time of dearth,

Yours truly, Andrew Clyne.

 

David Lewis Paget

Reviews

[Foxemerald]

The dark tone that this poem imbues the reader with is so distinguished, refined, and elegant. You've beautifully woven a tale filled with the heart of a single person who looks upon another world and place. The context is extremely vivid, and chilling, because the reader does not know what to expect from such a frightful reality. It leaves with all types of possibilities. And, the last missive that he wrote- to an audience that he never saw, brings to mind the long extension between time and space, and the frightful enigma of what could come.

A great read! The words are like a strong liquid coursing through my veins that I never want to leave.

[ANTO]

This is brilliant - its like Asimov meets shakespeare. Entertaining, thrilling, tongue-in-cheek
Great stuff Mr DLP
X

[TL Boehm]

This may be one of your best - or maybe it is just that its quite different in "setting" from much of what I've read. The dark side of the moon, the Apollo missions - all fodder for thought provoking stories and you've crafted a real chiller here.

[Tate Morgan]

I like it. Whose to say what we did with all 5 left over Saturn fives?.If we think there were no secrets in the apollo missions we are sadly mistaken I imagine. I like this way best.

[TPK Stories]

Loved this. Your stories rock!

[Mark]

As one who writes history so profusely and so persuasively, you're out of your depth when creating non-history...So why is it so daggum GOOD? As a close follower of the Apollo program, I admit that I was looking for malaprops, and you did NOT deliver--left one in the Command Module, two to the surface...although I don't think there was an auto-dock program, we can attribut that to poetic license! You never cease to amaze, mate!

[Tomahawk Joe]

Love the flow and clarity of your poems they're pleasant to read

[Baby Ricochet]

Another instant David Lewis Paget classic. The space program was in many ways the pinnacle of science and civilization. I can only imagine how exciting it must have been when Neil Armstrong set down on the moon in 1969 and said the famous words "One small step for man one giant leap for man kind." A triumph of engineering, technology and science if ever there was one. Technology has advanced leaps and bounds since then but I'll tell ya Mr Paget my smart phone, as impressive as it is with it's instant internet access and silly apps I never use it can't hold a candle to the Apollo11 landing

[Emerald Seas]

Sci-fi - that is a twist for you. I get a taste of War of the Worlds to a degree... what a horrible fate for mankind. Of course, we may do ourselves in before any other being gets the chance...

[SyberRose]

A little science fiction here...and it was really good...I would never want to be an astronaut.
The rhythm of your poems are always fun to read...I sort of sing them as I am reading ha...
Nicely done as always...another treat from you David...Rose:)