Poet Laureate Poems

Conquistadors

In this afterthought
          he’s just turned six,
                    the astronaut in him

doing his damnedest to coincide
          the moon landing
                    with his first kiss,

hoping to plant his lips
          on —– ——–’s
                    distant face

as Simon Armstrong
          steps from the module
                    onto Tranquillity Base.

But as Tricky Dicky clears his throat
          to claim God’s estate
                    as man’s backyard

from the Oval Office,
          and the gap narrows
                    to feet then inches,

suddenly stars recoil
          to further dimensions
                    and heaven flinches.

On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the first crewed moon landing by astronauts from the Apollo 11 spaceflight on the 20th July, 1969, the first known interplanetary journey by any life form in the universe.