As a child, our moon fascinated me,
how round and perfect –
a man’s face – I wanted so
to go far away to touch
a ball of light in night –
all night I watched a moon
as it moved in our sky –
never knowing why it moved
as night time drifted by –
my Mother pointed out the
“Big Dipper” and then near
a “Little Dipper.” Why
were stars in shapes of
things – so bright to
light a night sky?
it would not be until I
learned we too were like
the moon, round – turned,
and circled the sun – all
changing places in the sky –
I found it fearful – how we
changed places in the night –
but the moon looked like our
earth – even if no one lived
on the moon – I heard about
moon dust – craters – and
how scientists were trying
to land on the moon, unknown
to me as a child how far men
had to travel just to place
a flag on the moon –
I watched men in big
heavy suits jump up and
down – when stars and stripes
stood deep in moon dust –
now I had to go to the moon,
I had to be the first woman
astronaut who traveled
far away to see our earth
twist and turn as night
turned into day.
so when someone asked
“what do you want to be when
you grow up?”
I answered – “The first woman astronaut,”
strange, how I already knew
women were treated different
than men – back then…
even the moon had a man’s face.
Nancy Duci Denofio