It is the 35th anniversary of the launch of Voyager 1. I felt that it’s a good time to trot out a poem I have written for this occasion (though it does mention BOTH Voyagers). Enjoy.
Taking our first steps away from home
seeing just how far we could roam
men in ships to our nearest neighbor
walking gray valleys on the moon
a most joyful labor.
To other planetary stops
our probes to their surface’s drop
collecting data, photos too
sent back home to little pale blue
for scientist’s perusal and me and you.
This Earth, our world
is a citadel for all we build.
Such as refined metal emissaries
loaded with all we are:
Our memories and music,
even our thoughts encoded on discs
of gold-
messages in every tongue,
as many as they could hold…
You see thirty-five years ago
the human race did show
it had the ability to go
beyond the pale blue dot,
to learn what it is and what its not.
These Voyagers of ours
sent out to distant stars,
each beating with the pulse of the human race
which has finally found its place-
with humility and grace,
In the cosmos.
The Numinous Cosmos 