
“Planet Earth is blue and there’s nothing I can do.” -Major Tom (David Bowie)
Return with me to Nineteen-Sixty-Nine
when universal dreams were fresh and new.
The race was on; all bets were off on who
would lead the way across the finish line
as Russia surged ahead in the design
of Sputnik, spurring U.S. efforts through
the decade stepping up to mount a crew—
one man’s small step, a leap for all mankind.*
With science and humanity positioned
in love from Ground Control to Major Tom
and David Bowie looking like a geek,**
how hopefully the waiting world envisioned
a brighter color in the days to come
beyond this evanescent moody streak.

2023 Mary Boren
View discussion.
*Was Neil Armstrong Misquoted? (What he actually said was, “for a man”.)
**Vintage footage of David Bowie looking like a geek ...