Familiar places, like childhood,
are seen with new eyes
when we look back;
to be close, is to be blind
to the distant view.

The gravity-pull of the heart
does not change
as the flat earth of childhood
becomes the round spinning world
we learn to know,
the long distances of
the Globe we travel.

But the vision of the
whole wide onlooking world
is transfigured
when Bill Anders,
from the outside, looking on,
shows us a small blue marble
rising over the moon.

And America celebrates
Earthrise
on a postage stamp.

Kate O’Neil

 

Kate O’Neil writes poetry for children and adults. Many of these have been published in magazines and anthologies. Her collection Cool Poems was published by Triple D Books, Wagga Wagga in 2018.

© 2019