Back To The Stars!
a tribute to Neil Armstrong by Serge Kahili King
(I wrote this many years ago after the moon landing to express my feelings about it)

There's a stirring in my blood
That rises up and shouts to me
"IT'S TIME, IT'S TIME!"

For what? I ask, my worldly mind
Not seeing what could cause this
Rush of feeling so intense it
Shakes my soul.

A voice, my voice, a part of me
At least now whispers as it gently
Takes me on a tour of mem'ries
Put away in some forgotten depths
Of inner caves.

"Remember when you lay awake
At night and gazed with longing
Up into those galaxies of lights?
The many nights you spent in search
Of those which tugged your heart
And spoke of home?

"Do you recall the stories that
You wrote while yet so young
Of far-off planets and adventures
Into realms of terrifying
Beauty where men not of Earth
Met challenges 'midst Nature
Of a glory that surpasses words?

"And the dreams, the dreams
That enter still, of beings, ships
and places oh so real! The dreams
In which you're taught and teach
The things that later see the light
Of day. The dreams that show you
What has been and what can be
If only you are brave enough to lead.

"Remember, too, the things of which
you seldom speak. The time your
Car went out of time; your journey
Through a wall; your father's cry,
"I wish I'd gone!" and then the
Night you met with them. These
Things remember, with the rest,
And know we all have roles
Unplayed to play."