Looking Back

Tsiolkovsky once said the earth was our cradle,
but one must leave their cradle someday. 
Our race has long since mastered the stars.
To think we once thought we were slower than light!
Numberless planets, they are our home now.
Yet I see her there: the land of my fathers.
A blue ribbon winding ‘round a bland yellow star. 
In a quiet corner of the Milky Way.
In a regular cluster of galaxies. 
In a nondescript place in this universe.
Just one collection of collated stardust. 
A watery wealth in the desert of space.
So bright, so beautiful, so lonely, so tender—
So many ways there are to end her!
I’ve never set foot on the soil of the place,
where civilization began.
Such a strange feeling flows from my heart!
Our story could have begun anywhere.
But it began there, on that small blue sphere,
we’ll call it our home evermore.

6 May 2016
Copyright © | Year Posted 2016

Poem

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Kimathi Avatar
May 18, 2016 at 7:33 AM
Greetings James. Congrats for your top placement in the contest!! ;-)
F. Avatar
May 18, 2016 at 9:03 PM
Thanks!
Rodrigues Avatar
May 17, 2016 at 3:39 PM
Lovely, Congratulations!
F. Avatar
May 17, 2016 at 11:38 PM
Thanks!
Cheema Avatar
May 17, 2016 at 4:46 AM
Congrats on your beautiful placement, James!
F. Avatar
May 17, 2016 at 8:07 AM
Thanks!
Chansarkar Avatar
May 16, 2016 at 10:30 AM
Lovely,thanks for sharing,James!
F. Avatar
May 17, 2016 at 8:06 AM
Thanks!
Simmonds Avatar
May 15, 2016 at 8:49 PM
Dear James: I really felt that you connected with the quote. Congratulations on your win! I was wondering, since you are looking back at the earth, if you would change the second to the last line to reflect that, unless I'm reading your poem incorrectly. Thank you for a beautifully felt poem.
Simmonds Avatar
May 16, 2016 at 6:27 AM
Yes..."But it began there, on that small blue sphere,"
F. Avatar
May 15, 2016 at 9:23 PM
Thank you! Do you mean changing "here" to "there" perhaps? I'm certainly looking back at the earth, though I'm not entirely sure on what I ought to adjust to reflect that ...
Grahamburglar Avatar
May 7, 2016 at 6:59 PM
Imaginative. When I read the third line, I was like, "Wait, what?" Then I kept reading and it made much more sense. Clever write, James. Was this for the "Thin Blue Ribbon" contest? I've been trying to come up with an idea for that one. So far, I'm coming up dry.
F. Avatar
May 7, 2016 at 9:44 PM
Twas indeed. I left my safe shores of rhyme, and it hurts :) I love the quote I used though, I wish I could do it more justice.
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