Integrity
To welcome Artemis II
Rolling down Connecticut 17 in darkness
This April evening, I hear that
100,000 feet above, somewhere along
The circle of oxygen surrounding,
3 brothers and 1 sister of ours
Are coming home.
In frigid cold and darkness
They have told us of light
The light we have been given
The light we are called to give;
Now they remind that coming home
We meet enormous heat.
Not to destroy but to purify
To remind, to welcome;
5000 degrees, as we measure it here
Enough, as God might say
They pass through it, in silence
And then, plunge into the circle
Of earth’s embracing waters
The mother welcoming her own
Who have been for us the voice
Of wisdom in a time of folly, of peace
In time of war; the reminder that we
Are one on this starship
That has been provided for us
Circling the light in the darkness
One home for one people. One.
As of old, the voice of truth
Has reached us from above.
5000 degrees to burn away
Folly, and to help us remember
Who we are