One of the two
Less sound on his feet
Went stumbling through
Where the ground don’t meet
Where only a space, a tear, a split
Offered no place to bear his bootprint

With a small misstep for man
The moon is unkind. In the plan
It said you must leave the man behind

And one of the pair
Was stuck, standing fast
Knowing up there
He could but broadcast
Though if he were heard who’d waive the rule?
Collins, their third, can’t leave the module

Like a horse on her last legs
Dog on her deathbed, his eyes beg
But there’s something that dare not be said

And they wait out the cold of summer
To stave off incoming slumber
They rhyme out sequences of numbers
Counting down the time that they’ve got left up there
Up there up there
Higher than breathable air
I always seem to wake up there

Midway through the dream
Asleep at the keys
Will this moon-white ream
Keep hold of words like these?
Expression of grief, of vague intent
The Commander-in-Chief must make a statement

It’s not on the crumpled page
Not in the waste bin in will rage
In the heart. But where to begin?

And I fight off incoming slumber
In hope something new will come there
To break up sequences of numbers
Counting down the time that they’ve got left up there
Up there up there
Higher than breathable air
I always seem to wake up there

Fate has ordained that the men who went to the moon to explore in peace will stay on the moon to rest in peace. These brave men know that there is no hope for their recovery. But they also know that there is hope for mankind in their sacrifice. These two men are laying down their lives in mankind's most noble goal: the search for truth and understanding. They will be mourned by their families and friends; they will be mourned by the nation; they will be mourned by the people of the world; they will be mourned by a Mother Earth that dared send two of her sons into the unknown. In their exploration, they stirred the people of the world to feel as one; in their sacrifice, they bind more tightly the brotherhood of man. In ancient days, men looked at the stars and saw their heroes in the constellations. In modern times, we do much the same, but our heroes are epic men of flesh and blood. Others will follow, and surely find their way home. Man's search will not be denied. But these men were the first, and they will remain the foremost in our hearts. For every human being who looks up at the moon in the nights to come will know that there is some corner of another world that is forever mankind.

A broadcast from Earth
His plea in the night
Issuing forth
At the speed of light
A lasting account of what they did
But as it drifts out, it grows distorted

In event of moon disaster
No eloquence or mastery of words heals what comes after
But then, after all, the words are all we have.