The Moon - Just a Visit – 1969
Art thou pale for wearinessOf climbing heaven and gazing on the earth . . . P B Shelley
For once the boot was on the other foot –But she can hardly have expected usAfter so long a wait – and what a wait.Down the endless, countless years she aloneWould smile at us in the inky darkness.She has beguiled us, entranced us butLike a lovely virgin admired by oafishSuitors she has allowed only theGentlest touch for a heart-rending effort.The visit, a success on the surface then,Did not bode well for the hope of meetingHer distant, consistent and faithfulCompanions promising greater rewards.
We do not share the same orbit of timeWhich allows her to leave,Even though she will lose her shineAs she heads out into the void.We have everywhere and nowhere to go –For space, we have found, is an oceanOf time in which we can only drown.