Welcome to the Poetry Friday Roundup! (Curious about Poetry Friday? Read this post by Renée M. LaTulippe.) I’m happy to be your host today. The news this week is heartbreaking and scary. At times like these, poetry is especially important, as it reminds us of our common hopes and dreams, desires and longings. I sure the posts shared today will bring us hope for peace.
When I told Heidi I would take over her hosting duties today, I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to feature Irene Latham‘s incredible new book, The Museum on the Moon: The Curious Objects on the Lunar Surface. (Bushel & Peck Books, 2023) As a child of the sixties and the daughter of an Air Force veteran, the NASA program and the Apollo missions were woven into our family life. Launches and splashdowns were required viewing. Irene has taken us beyond what we watched on TV or read about in Life magazine to the surface of the moon. She has written with her hallmark wordplay and vivid descriptions to give us insights into the objects brought along on those pioneering flights. From the symbolic (“Old Glory,” describing the “time-tattered, sun-battered” flag left at each landing site) to the deeply personal (a photograph of “one smiling family” that “makes its home/on the lunar floor), Irene’s poems give us new insight into things we thought we knew and teaches us much more we that we didn’t. For instance, I remember the Alan Shepard’s golfing (“Alan Shepard’s Advice for Golfing on the Moon”), but I didn’t know about the gold replica of an olive branch that Neil Armstrong left at the Sea of Tranquility (“Peace”). The realistic illustrations of Myriam Wares, in a palette of warm blues and rosy pinks, brings each of these poems to life.
I originally wanted to write about The Museum on the Moon back in September, closer to its launch on September 19th, but I have a new role and responsibilities at my school and getting into the swing of things took every brain cell I had. This was just before Dot Day. As I read “Forever Footprints,” this photograph came to mind:
Somehow, this reminded me of the Cueva de las Manos in Argentina. Apparently our desire to leave our mark is ancient and universal.
This sparked the idea for this poem:
“Giant Leap”
Ghostly handprints,
Images stenciled in stone, reach out
Across millennia
Narrowing distance,
Transcending time. Ten thousand
Lifetimes later, lunar
Explorers left footprints,
Announcing our
Presence, our will to leave our mark eternal.
Draft, © Catherine Flynn, 2023
Thank you, Irene and Myriam, for this gorgeous inspiring book. Don’t forget to leave a link to your Poetry Friday post!
Reading to the Core 
I love your acrostic, Catherine. Those ghostly hands and the way you tied it into the moon landing, too. Very clever and evocative. Also, I was so sad to read of Terry Shay’s passing! So much sad news recently, on both an individual and a much larger scale. You’re right. Poetry does help.
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Your lunar links have integrated so effortlessly into your Gaint Leap acrostic poem, Catherine. You have successfully negotiated these moon moments. I recall being intriguied to discover in my reading that there is a hammer and a falcon’s feather on the moon. They were used to prove Galileo’s theory of gravitivity. Endlessly fascinating…
Thank you for hosting.
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Thank you for hosting, Catherine, and for sharing a lovely moment in the midst, as you say, of a lot of sad and confusing ones.
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Giant is the word I’m looking for, Catherine, otherwise I am interfering with the flow of your poem.
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[…] Oct. 20, for our interview! For more poetry TODAY, head on over to the Poetry Friday roundup at Reading to the Core, where Catherine celebrates Irene Latham’s new book The Museum on the Moon (Bushel & […]
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Thoughtful & poignant poem Catherine – and Irene’s book looks and sounds stunning! Thans for hosting!
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I love the connection you made here, Catherine!
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I love your time portal connection between the ancient handprints and the lunar footprints, Yes a “Giant Leap” and your poem is fantastic! Appreciations for this bit of brightness in the midsts of all–and shining more light from Irene’s book, thanks for all and for hosting the Roundup!
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Thank you for the thoughtful post and for hosting today, Catherine. Your Giant Leap acrostic connects all of these inspiring elements. And thank you for sharing Cueva de las Manos – I’d never heard of or seen this before.
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Thank you for the thoughtful post and for hosting today, Catherine. Your Giant Leap acrostic connects all of these inspiring elements. And thank you for sharing Cueva de las Manos – I’d never heard of or seen this before.
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[…] The roundup is with Catherine at Reading to the Core. […]
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Thanks for hosting and reminding me to delve into Irene’s book. It’s on my coffee table waiting for me to have time to read it. I really want to create a whole week of poetry with my students around her book. Your poem is a wonderful use of the acrostic form.
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The connection of these two different left-marks is so perfect, one of those connections I wish I had thought of! 🙂 “Ghostly handprints” – swoon! And it somehow feels like there is much much more behind this, so many more poems hiding in this one. Thank you for hosting and for sharing Irene’s book – she and her work endlessly inspire. xo, a.
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Thank you, thank you, Catherine, for taking over for me today! You made the barely-imaginable leap through time and literal space accessible, from the hands to the footprint , beautifully. I’ll be using this book in Nov/Dec when I run classes with poetry about the darkest time of the year. Looking forward to catching up on Sunday!
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Thank you for hosting today, Catherine and for your timely post about connections across time and space. It is important to always be reminded of our responsibility to each other as humans. Your beautiful acrostic makes its own giant leap.
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Enjoyed your connection, Catherine. Like the others, I hadn’t heard of those handprints. Can’t wait to read Irene’s book! Thanks for hosting!
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Fabulous post! Wonderful review of Irene’s new book and I love your acrostic. Thanks so much for hosting this week!
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[…] Catherine has this week’s Poetry Friday roundup at Reading to the Core. […]
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Thanks for hosting today, and for taking us back to Irene’s book with your own unique twist. Fantastic revisions! I love all the alliteration!!
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Catherine, thank you for sharing about MOON and for your lovely acrostic about those handprints. I love the leaps your brain make! And I’m struck by how we in this community are all making marks by sharing our poetry with each other. Talk about connection! It makes me wonder who might stumble upon these Poetry Friday posts perhaps ten thousand lifetimes later and what conclusions they’ll draw about us. Thank you, Catherine. xo
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Thank you for hosting, Catherine! Your poem “Giant Leap” skillfully bridges millennia, demonstrating the ageless human desire to make a mark.
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Thank you for hosting today, Catherine, and for your poem about the oh-so human wish to leave a mark. Nicely done!
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What a gorgeous connection through time and SPACE – wink, wink – a perfect poetryaction for Irene’s book. Thank you for hosting today! You are a good friend.
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Catherine, thank you for hosting today. My copy of the Moon Museum book is in the mail. I’m excited to get it! Your Giant Leap poem is rich in connections between the Cueva de las Manos and the footprint on the moon. Wow!
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Catherine, I love your poem! ! I am not (as of now) posting this week but reading and catching up on the posts of others! Thanks for the inspiration and for hosting.
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Catherine, thank you for hosting and starting the PF Roundup with a very interesting post. Irene’s book is amazing. It is true that your thought he true. “The Apollo missions were woven into our family life.” I think that is why Irene’s book is so relevant and accessible for children, especially those interested in space exploration. With ease, you moved right into your “Giant Leap” acrostic poem. “Ten thousand/Lifetimes later” makes me ponder the length of time that earth has gone through. Making our mark is essential.
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[…] This week’s Poetry Friday Roundup is hosted by Catherine Flynn who’s sharing a review of Irene Latham’s recent release and a wonderful original poem. Click to visit her blog, Reading to the Core. […]
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Thank you for hosting, Catherine! That’s a cool acrostic. I watched the moon landings on TV way back when.
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Catherine, thanks for the great review of Irene’s book, but most of all thanks for linking those two images with your poem. What a powerful connection you’ve made with this poem! Thanks also for hosting this week!
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Catherine, what beautiful connections you made. The handprints, the footprint … all parts of our human need to connect, and you beautifully brought them together here. ❤️
And it’s never too late to highlight a new book! (Or an old one, for that matter.) 🙂
Thanks for hosting!
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