If Only You Were Real
I'm not a poet, but somebody had to do it
From the days long before
when man first took in your contours,
white face pocked and gnarled
unlike your blinding, homogenous counterpart,
and for the first time
grasped that there could be lands
that feet alone could never reach,
you have served as inspiration.
.
If only you were real.
.
Kubrick
and main actor Armstrong
with supporting actor Aldrin
(and Collins as extra)
were robbed of an Emmy
for the television performance of a lifetime.
You would have been flattered at your portrayal.
.
If only you were real.
.
A round of applause
for the projectionists
providing the ultimate muse
since prehistoric man first learned
to draw on cave walls.
Perhaps that is why they claim
you are growing distant
at the pace of 3.8 centimeters a year,
so someday the animators can pack it in
and see their families again.
I’d say we’ll miss you, dear friend.
.
If only you were real.
***
Author's Note: If I go missing, we'll all know why now.
About the Creator
Stephen A. Roddewig
Author of A Bloody Business and the Dick Winchester series. Proud member of the Horror Writers Association 🐦⬛
Also a reprint mercenary. And humorist. And road warrior. And Felix Salten devotee.
And a narcissist:
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Comments (10)
Circling back again to say congrats to my "non poet" authorly friend who placed in yet another poetic challenge!!
A different lens highlighted allows us all to see better. Thank you for sharing this perspective, Stephen. Well done on your award status!
Okay how about this: A chapbook of satirical poetry. Because this is awesome. Congrats, my friend, on runner up. I think you underestimate this one. 😉
Wooohooooo congratulations on your win! 🎉💖🎊🎉💖🎊
Stopping by to say well done and glad to see Vocal has decided to give some subversive takes on the prompt a fair hearing and rewards! Congrats, Stephen!
Author's Note (since I can't Quick Edit this one in, now): Since irony and satire are very much in the eye of the beholder, and even my best attempts in the third stanza might not be enough to "tip my hand" and reveal the author's true beliefs, let me be clear: the Moon is real. NASA went there. And even if I hadn't said this, the poem only references the Apollo program, so Mercury, Gemini, Vostok, Voskhod, Soyuz, Skylab, Mir, and the ISS were never matters of dispute. And I am on record as fully acknowledging the ISS's existence and orbital mechanics (thus, the Earth is round): https://shopping-feedback.today/poets/ungodly-high%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/a%3E Though I did contemplate adding another stanza talking about all the SpaceX Starships disintegrating on reentry or blowing up on the launchpad as an inside job to create a pretense to cancel the Artemis program because "They know there's nothing to go to, so they need a convincing premise to back off of the whole idea." But again, Moon is real. Apollo 11 landed there.
I forgot to comment. I was worried, the shady folk might get me and take me to disappear land if I commented on this truthful bomb of a poem. Well done sir, on being a truthspeaker. QAnon will be giving you a raise sometime soon.
is this seriously suggesting that humans have not gone into space or set foot on the moon?
LOL "I don't write poetry" then proceeds to send me a link of a poem he write the other day and it's legit, not his usual mockery of the "sport" 😂
I’m onto you mister….next youre going to tell me the Martian isn’t a true story and the Vatican didn’t indeed try to kill tom hanks….