Welcome to Awakenings

Life IS history in the making. Every word we say, everything we do becomes history the moment it is said or done. Life void of memories leaves nothing but emptiness. For those who might consider history boring, think again: It is who we are, what we do and why we are here. We are certainly individuals in our thoughts and deeds but we all germinated from seeds planted long, long ago.

Saturday, August 25, 2012

Death of a Hero: He will be missed!

"That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind." ~Neil Armstrong


First moon landing, 1969


Astronaut Neil Armstrong dies at age 82.

Neil Armstrong was a quiet, self-described "nerdy" engineer who became a global hero when as a steely-nerved U.S. pilot he made "one giant leap for mankind" with the first step on the moon.
Read more. . .

Let's pause in a moment of silence for this great hero. . .


A Walk on the Moon
An event once only visualized in an episode of Star Trek
came to fruition when man stepped onto the surface of Earth’s moon.
One question still remains: How far is it possible to go?


Man on the moon?
Just myth, they say
'Til two in fact
Made it one day

“The Eagle has landed”
Rang loud and clear
As the astronauts said
“We’re safely here.”

Words of a hero
In history we’ll find
One small step for man,
One giant leap for mankind

Seeing Earth in the heavens
As no one had seen before
Led the men to venture out
Eager to seek and explore

What was it honestly like
On that monumental day?
Was it hot like the desert?
What role did gravity play?

Total absence of weather
Both cloudless and windless
Left so many conditions
Nothing short of mindless

Wildly shifting temperatures
Below Arctic cold in the shade
Rose to blistering in the sun
Often stagnating the crusade

Lack of atmosphere
Limited gravitational pull
Steps by leaps and bounds
Sprung upward noticeably in full

Weighing much less on the moon
Apollo astronauts had fun
Picture how far you could jump
If gravity’s force were undone!

© 2012
Sharla Lee Shults

10 comments:

  1. I am sure that Neil Armstrong will feel you have added somrthing to his leap

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  2. Two years ago, I wrote a chapbook in consultation with my mom that evolved into the collection "Generations." The poem that represents our shared experience, "9/34: Mom on the Moon," described my mom's insistence that a synagogue meeting end on time: "Ladies and gentlemen//I must witness history// with my children."

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  3. Thank you for your post in honor of a true American hero.

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  4. I included his biography in my most recent book and he was (and is) one of my all-time heroes!

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  5. Thank you! This is a beautiful poem for one of our bravest space scientist.

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  6. Sharla, what a beautiful tribute to a wonderful hero and a really nice man. I remember watching it all on TV--a momentous occasion. This lovely poem should be sent to his family. You did a wonderful job-thanks for the memories.

    Micki

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  7. I agree with Micki, Sharla. The poem should be sent to Neil Armstrong's family. It is a beautiful tribute to one of the world's finest.

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  8. Wonderful tribute to a great man, a great American Man!

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  9. One of the few heroes who didn't turn out to have feet of clay.

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