Kelli Stevens Kane
Moon Rocks (Mom, 1969)
Oh! (wistfully) The moon rocks.
Okay your dad was out of town.
And while we were watching them
come out of the rocket and jump
down to the moon [on TV]I said,
“I want you to remember this.”
And I drove up the street to the park.
And it was a full moon. It was gorgeous.
So I parked the car and I said, “You
see the moon? And you’re goin’,
“M O O N. M O O N.” I said, “That’s
the moon. Those people are up there.”
And you looked up there like, “Where?
I don’t see any people.” You were
lookin’ for ‘em. I said, “No, they’re
real tiny ‘cause the moon is far far
away. Those men are up there in
big heavy suits and they’re pickin’
up rocks.” I said, “Moon rocks.”
And you said, “M O O N rocks!”
(laugh) It was like “Oh that goes
together almost.” I said, “This
is the first time Man has ever
walked on the moon.” And you
looked at me, and your eyes got big.
I said, “The first time EVER.” I said,
“Boy, that would be so nice if your
daddy could get you some of those
moon rocks.” She says—you said,
“Yes! M O O N rocks.” I said, “Well
they probably look kinda like these
rocks here, but I don’t know because
I’ve never been on the moon.” And
you looked up at that moon again like,
“You might never go, but I’m goin’.”
(laugh) And I said, “Oh you have to
be older to go to the moon. You have
to learn about numbers to go to the
moon.” And I was tellin’ you all the
stuff that you had to do to go to the moon.
So when your dad came home, I think
he came home a day or two later, I said,
“Did you bring Kelli any moon rocks?”
He said, “Nope. But I saw it on TV.”
I said, “Oh I told her you might have some
moon rocks for her.” (laugh) “Why’d
you do that ‘R?” ‘Cause he didn’t want to
disappoint you in anything. (sigh)
And then after that, we’d be in the car
and if you could see the moon, you’d
say, “Full M O O N.” I’d say, “Yep. It sure
is. There’s nobody up there though.
The two guys that went up there, came
back.” I don’t know whether you thought
they were still up there or what, but I
thought, “I gotta clear this up.” (laugh)
Kelli Stevens Kane is a poet, playwright, and oral historian. She is the author of Hallelujah Science, her debut collection of poetry (Spuyten Duyvil, 2020). Kane is a Cave Canem Fellow who has also studied at VONA, Hurston/Wright, and Callaloo. She has read, published, and performed nationally. For more information visit kellistevenskane.com.