Four Tiptoe Senryu

Alan Bean's "Tiptoeing on the Ocean of Storms" (acrylic on masonite)

who dared to tiptoe
on the rugged lunar plains
as we gaped in awe

when you have migranes
count twenty tiptoing sheep
pounding ceases

all is so quiet
tiptoe when the sun begins
sleeping roommates

singing the blues
tiptoing though their stories
i live their passion

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Written for:

Prompt #103 “tiptoe”

Picture credit: Alan Bean: Painting Apollo, First Artist on Another World

Four Brilliance Senryu

Sunlight

lunar brilliance
what is intemperate darkness
if not the flip side

dancing in color
fabrics shimmer and reflect
chromatic brilliance

brilliance of the grass
blades blaze in radiation
yellow as the sun

a sign from above
brilliance from the heavens
to light up our days

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Written for:

This week’s theme is: Brilliance

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A ray of hope flickers in the sky –  Prompt # 137

Also posted on:

A Word with Laurie: Ethereal

Near Earth Asteroid

Impact Earth

Coming Close

Near Earth Asteroid

comin’ from the sun
a whisker away from Earth;
whiskin’ from one direction
whizzin’ by in another

sling-shot space rock
rims off our planet
skims off gravitational well
like a perilous mass of rubble

might sail by harmlessly
at a butt-clenchingly close gap
might pass inside
the ring of manmade satellites

narrowly missing
the bull’s eye; its image may
get trapped inside a dish
or it could fade into the beyond

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Brian Miller asked me to write this in honor of the asteroid that is coming way too close tomorrow. Well, it’s a space poem, how could I NOT write it?  Thanks Brian, for putting me up to this.

Posted on:

Theme Thursday for December 1, 2011 – INSIDE

Photo Credit: Not sure, got them from Brian Miller

Sonnet XXIV

Rare Green Flash From the Moon

Light from the moon hits Earth’s dense atmosphere
in the low opaque areas that are wet.
Then the apparent lunar photosphere
emits green light as Luna starts to set.
The grey moon seems orange in the dark sky,
then a rare flash appears out of nowhere,
as a giant prism paints verdant die
and a blazing mirage seems to hang there.
Lunar soil releases ionic
streams as it is hit by the solar winds.
Then it wears a crown that seems demonic
’til the moon in the sky sets and rescinds.
The air helps bend light into frequencies
like weaving bright threads of embroideries.

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I just found out about this phenomenon today on the New Scientist page . Then I wrote this sonnet.

Digg Newsrooms also has some interesting comments.

Posted on:

The Poetry Pantry Is Now Open! – #85

Also posted on:

Prompt 217: Verdant

The Earth

Earth As Taken by Apollo 17

The Earth As Seen From Apollo 17

Clouds weave quick patterns like silken white lace;
No borders are drawn on lands seen from space.
Such beautiful seas, and bounteous lands;
The oceans, the rivers, the snows and sands;
I have searched the universe high and low
Yet cannot detect such a well made show.
It’s hard to define Earth’s magnificent life:
The glory, happiness, sorrow and strife.
It’s pitify man does not fully know
The glory of life: to produce and grow.
Earth’s life’s a marvel, I clearly can see.
I daren’t imagine how no life would be.
Out in the heavens I see my Earth fly
Like a blue-snowy crystal, on black-velvet sky.

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This is the first Sonnet I ever wrote, back in 1972. It is not even a Shakespearean Sonnet. I wrote it while Apollo 17 was returning from the moon to Earth. Jack Schmidt said that he had wished he were a poet so he could write about how beautiful the Earth is. I wrote this sonnet and sent it to him. He must have really liked it because he sent me back a letter thanking me for the poem. Also, 20 years later, I wrote to him again and reminded him that I was the one who sent that poem, and he seemed to remember the poem.

Most of you know the picture above. But some probably don’t know that this is the first full picture of the Earth taken by man. I was lucky enough to meet Gene Cernan in Seattle, back in 2000. I asked him who took the picture, and he said he didn’t know. He said they had one camera, and they all took pictures whenever they saw fit. No one knows exactly who snapped that picture. That’s why, whenever you see the picture, it is credited to the entire crew of Apollo 17.

Here’s a great picture of the crew . The magnificent Saturn V rocket is in the background, and the Lunar Rover is in the foreground. Amazing engineering for the sixties. It’s the technology that got us where we are today.

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Gooseberry Garden

Poetry Picnic Week 14: What I’m Thankful for in My Life

Also published for:

 

poets-rally-week-60