Per Ardua Ad Astra Poem by Jeff Stoddart

Per Ardua Ad Astra, by hardship to the stars
Today man reaches for the moon
Tomorrow maybe Mars.
And as we marvel at these feats,
Fantastic though they seem
Let's put things in perspective
And not place faith in dreams.

The world we live in here and now
Is in a hopeless mess
With filth and degradation,
Fear and selfishness.
Anger, sloth, and genocide
Are here for all to see
And what I fear,
I fear will never change...for you and me.

I think about our children,
And what we offer them.
I think about the pain and greed
And fickleness of men.
I think about The Middle East
It's always in the news
I think about the Nazi scourge
And fifteen million Jews.

So those achievements marked today
Remember them with pride
But problems in this land today
From them we cannot hide.
The chains that bind us to this earth
Are shattered when they fall
But put things in perspective
For the benefit of all.