With our rings as round as the “o” in Galileo
We exchange our nuptial vows, our hearts beating
In close proximity. Our hearts’ impact once
Scattered regoliths here on the way to Mars.
Poised in awe like the earth-moon spin,
We observe Armstrong and Aldrin’s
Fit footprints on the plain’s talcum-sands
Then, deftly inscribed by Apollo and Insight.
Further on from the fossil-riverbed, mascons
Spurt all around us like tuberoses. We cannot
See nor touch nor smell these succulents –
Metaphors are maudlin tools on the moon –
Roses cultivated on earth’s irrigated soils
Metamorphosed memorabilia of our origins.
“Pathfinder” is published by Brick Street Poetry Inc., won The Polaris Trilogy Contest, and will land on the moon’s South Pole by a NASA time-capsule in 2024. Find out more about the poet, Dr. Emily Bilman, here.