Earthrise Poem by Paul Hartal

Circling the moon, James Lovell looked back
at the Earth. In contrast to the grey and desolate
surface of the Moon, his home planet, even from
a distance of four hundred thousand kilometers away,
vibrated in vivid colors, blue and green, brown
and yellow and white.

The crew of Apollo 8, William Anders, Frank Borman
and James Lovell had been lifted into space
on December 8,1968. Their mission lasted six days,
three hours and forty two seconds.

The three astronauts were the first humans
to witness an earthrise from outer space.
Moved by the awe-inspiring experience,
they read verses from Genesis, beginning with,
"In the beginning God created
the heaven and the earth".

During the mission Lovell watched the Earth
from the Moon and at some point he held up
his thumb at arm's length.

This brought about a revelation, as he saw that he could
completely blot out his home planet
just with his thumb. It was a significant moment
as the astronaut suddenly realized
man's insignificance in the universe.

However, Captain Lovell's insight
does not really prove that we are insignificant.
It just shows that, on a cosmic scale, the Earth
is a tiny object.