NASA Project, outer space and astronomy poem by Janet Kuypers

NASA Project

Ive always loved astronomy
Ive kept the telescope I had since I was a child
I remember tracking the motion of the stars to the horizon
when I was six with my sister
when she took a high school astronomy class
Ive witnessed two comets
Ive even had a star
past the base of the constellation cygnus named after me.
Ive studied black holes
tried to learn more about astro-physics
the whole nine yards

and there are studies
and possibly plans
for NASA
after setting up the space station
they may be planning a colony
on the moon for inhabitants
in part to entail the long-term-effects
of a change in gravitation force on the human body

and I heard this
that there may be plans for this
within the next twenty or thirty years
and I thought
my god
I am meant for this
I would be perfect for this

but then I thought,
what would I do there
why would they want me there

and
Im a journalist
Ive written all my life
and Im a designer
and my job would be
to catalog what is going on at the colony
and to distribute news to the colony
about what is going on on the moon
and maybe also even about what is going on on earth

and I liked this plan
it would seem fitting
give me occasional feeds through occasional transmittals
of information for me to pass on to the colony
and I would catalog historically
what is happening here
for people on earth to learn from
this sounds like the perfect thing for me

and then I thought
wow
I would disseminate all information
to this colony of people
on the moon

I would be their only link to news

I could tell them anything

just think about this for a moment
I could tell them anything
and they wouldnt be able to use another source
to prove me wrong
I could tell them I sang the national anthem for the President
no really, I dont have that bad of a voice
but I sang because we were leaving to live on the moon
and these people would believe me

I wonder if I had to write reports to send back to earth
would I have to tell them about the hypnotic effects of the earthlight
versus how we earthlings talk about the moonlight

and then I started thinking:
would I be able to bring my pet cat with me?

cause all I can think is that my cat would be
taking leaps and they would be fifteen feet jumps
ten feet in the air
you know, they probably wouldnt let me
bring a pet to the moon
but its still fun to think about

remember at the Planetarium
how they would have scales for different planets
so you could see how much you would weigh
there because of different gravitational pulls?
all the women liked weighing themselves
on the moon
because of the moon has one sixth
the gravity
they could look at a scale and say
“I weigh thirty-six pounds”

but then I suddenly started to think
how they would accommodate
for days that are twenty-eight earth days long
on the moon

can you even imagine
seeing the earth in the sky out there
the way we look at the moon no
youd be there
unable to make any connection
with people on earth at all

I wonder if Id miss from Earth
the traffic
or the grocery store
or going to a restaurant
or telling my family I love them

would I be able to stand being away from the people I love
while living on the moon, would I just have to settle
for looking out cabin holes to see the sky
to remind myself of my love for astronomy