I was prompted to write a poem on space; a task I quickly concluded was impossible. Me, I’m no science girl. I’m a silly artsy romantic oeuvre. You won’t be finding math, robots, or satellites in my brain anytime within the century. But, who doesn’t at least try? I drifted online and googled “poems on space”—a boring unveiling that was. That is, until I stumbled on The Universe In Verse. Wow. For hours, I was lost in stars and planets. I even cried watching the animated videos that recited those beautiful poems. It turns out, I am awed by space; I just never stared at the sky long enough to notice. So, I wrote a letter to my future self who is at this very moment—imagine with me, will you—on a trip to space.
.
Ground Control
Ground Control
Ground Control to the one who is the
Best thing that has happened to my future
I won’t butter around the slices
I’ll spread right in
.
A futuristic spaceship glint with promise
Weaving around the earth’s globe
Inside, black skin like sepia
Carrier ship brimming with the same kind of pride
.
You are swept off your feet
I am grounded in mine
It is a day here, a morning
But you can’t tell the time
.
Here, I’ve lived every life I can find
Oceans of blue, fields of green
I dove in, lapped ‘em
Many a swim
.
Cheap travels, chance voyages
Me and our friends made
Many a memory
.
Gargantuan creatures I saw
The Masai giraffe, the Blue Caves of Volimes
Many a awe
It must pale in sight of what you now sail
.
I’m here
But you, adrift, view the Northern Lights
From outside its sphere
.
I’m here
But you, adrift, view Antarctica
From outside its frost
.
What you must have felt
Flying through earthlight
A happiness unpunctuated
No commas question marks ampersands
You are in boundless space my dear
Is everything clearer, brighter now?
.
The atmosphere is a pitch black night
No sun, no moonlight
Andromeda is by your side
A billion other galaxies howl
.
Fly up to the stars and dream anew
Say a little prayer while you’re closer to His ears
Write a letter to me, your old self, quite?
‘Tis only these I ask as I send you to the world outside
