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APOLLO

by Charles Gallagher, Citizen Contributor

Jul 19, 2019
Telescope view of the moon

A poem submitted by local writer, Charles Gallagher, as we recognize the 50th Anniversary of the Apollo 11 Mission and lunar landing.

Oh, the enormity.

Cylindrical steel more than football-field tall

catches the dawn glow, transferring it to the unpainted

silver that dares the reflection into the Florida sky.

As the “Go” command echoes from Houston to Cape

consoles

where men in white shirts sit erect in anticipation

of having a hand in hurling the rocket’s seven-year pledge

onto a journey toward tranquility.

It is born in an explosion

that roars at the anger of being frozen to launchpad

before climbing with raw power to be enveloped

in silent blackness, as it begins the days-long journey,

escaping the hands of father Zeus and womb of mohter

Leda.

No longer a myth, this Apollo.

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