Kennedy's Sept. 12th 1962 "We Will Go To The Moon" Speech

[ronprice]

That speech was given at Rice University and this prose-poem contrasts the space race and my life at the time.<br />_________________________________<br /><br />The day my feet landed on the ground, F.O.G. as the Canadian Baha’is sometimes call it, in my first pioneering post in Dundas Ontario, was Sunday September 2nd 1962. Ten days later President John F. Kennedy gave his “we chose to go to the Moon” speech AT Rice University. In that speech Kennedy quoted from one William Bradford in 1630 who had said, speaking of the founding of the Plymouth Bay Colony, that all “honourable actions are accompanied with great difficulties.” The USA chose to go to the moon in the 1960s, at the beginning of the tenth and final stage of history according to one Baha’i paradigm. Kennedy outlined NASA’s program for the next five years, September 1962 to September 1967. These would be my first five years of pioneering, the beginning of the last stage of history, the election of the House of Justice, my last five years of formal education, the beginning of my job life and much more. -Ron Price, Pioneering Over Four Epochs, June 26th 2006.<br /><br />They were hot days back then,<br />little did I know with my brain<br />filled and my arms loaded with<br />books from the first week of nine<br />subjects that would keep my nose<br />academically down for the next <br />nine months and wear me thin-again.<br /><br />Yes, little did I know about the stages <br />of history, the plan to go to the Moon, <br />my bi-polar disorder or the implications <br />of this new pioneering move at the end <br />of a Crusade that had been on the edge <br />of my young life since late childhood.<br /><br />I had just felt a girl’s breast for <br />the first time in my life at 18 and <br />I can tell you--the sensation sent <br />me to the moon and filled my heart <br />with a grand design1 that was far <br />removed from those associated <br />with the Mystery of God, from<br />the heroism of keeping the ship <br />on its course

 

[CalliArcale]

Many apologies, but there seems to be something wrong with your image. It was corrupted. You may want to try uploading it again. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p><font color="#666699"><em>"People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but actually from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint it's more like a big ball of wibbly wobbly . . . timey wimey . . . stuff."</em>  -- The Tenth Doctor, "Blink"</font></p> </div>

 

[askold]

The poem does propose a novel way of getting to the moon that science had not considered before ...

 

[lampblack]

It's a sure fire way of keeping abreast with the Russians, for sure. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <font color="#0000ff"><strong>Just tell the truth and let the chips fall...</strong></font> </div>

 

[ronprice]

Thanks for all that feedback. Let me say, as a way of responding to all these comments, that (a) selecting titles is a problem and many poets, like Emily Dickinson for example, avoid titles. Does one select something catchy, something topic-specific--it's difficult(but thanks for the feedback; I rarely get anyone commenting on my titles--your comment could be seen as sensitizing; and (b) there is nothing like a 'breast' to awaken the interest and, in today's world a little mental illness is a sort of a spice...at least in some circles. One of the problems in society today is that there are so many circles.-Ron Price, Tasmania.

 

[ronprice]

Thanks for the feedback; I'll try again. If it still doesn't work, we can just give it a miss. I don't mind; I'm not the handsome fellow I once was. Age roughens the edges and much else. "No worries," as they say in Australia.-Ron

 

[CalliArcale]

RonPrice, many apologies, but it appears something happened to your image during upload. I can't actually see it in the queue. You may want to check to make sure nothing is obviously wrong with it, and if it still looks good from your end, try uploading it again. (Unfortunately, you will have to make a new post in order to attach the picture again.) <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p><font color="#666699"><em>"People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but actually from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint it's more like a big ball of wibbly wobbly . . . timey wimey . . . stuff."</em>  -- The Tenth Doctor, "Blink"</font></p> </div>