The poem's inspiration comes from watching a cable TV documentary on the 'Space Race'. An astronaut interviewee said: "We have transformed the Moon from an object to a place." Struck by its simple but profound truth, I wrote down this sentence almost immediately. Later, I took the first part of the sentence as the "seed" of the poem, and then, I altered the remainder and expanded upon (what I interpreted as) the essential meaning of the statement: that, having made the Moon a destination, we have simultaneously acknowledged our destiny in space.
I would next like to explore the challenges, opportunities, and resultant cultural transformations of establishing a permanent Lunar habitation (or perhaps a "colony"?). This exploration also extends obviously to the "manned" Mars mission, scheduled to occur sometime around 2030. A Moon base would be a valuable "proving ground" for any further, permanent, habitation in space (Mars, Europa...and...???)
