Today I Touched the Moon

By Abi Alperovich

Posted on October 1, 2025

Cover Image Title: Crest in the Sky

Cover Image by: Jules

Classification: Photography

Specifications: 3072 pixels X 2096 pixels

Year: 2025

Location: Ohio, U.S.A.

Dear my sweet love down below, 

I touched the moon today

It was cold and felt like rock

Its stones did not glow like I thought they would from when I saw them at night

But I touched the moon anyway

It was bigger than I thought it would be

More rough and filled with holes

Not the painting of ink-blot spots that I saw every dawn

When you and I sat on the lawn

“My expectations were too high,” 

I thought when I touched the moon

“They were smooth and white,” I thought

Seeing the rough and dark before my eyes

You said that the moon was just hard rock

I said that it was much more

A novelty, an experience, a new frontier to be explored

But it was as old as time 

I’m not saying that the moon is not beautiful

I thought it was beautiful too

The great light through the darkness of the sky

It was a sight to see at night 

It was brighter than all of the stars combined

It was more round than the earth

It was so loved that we could see it day and night

It was so humble to share the sky with the sun

Oh what is a sun if not too bright?

Over powering the small, kind sphere 

Yes it gives life for only half of the time

But what does it have against the moon?

The moon was bright

The moon could stand on its own

The moon displays its beauty all the time

And it holds nothing against the sun

But when, my love, I stepped off my ship

I saw no light, no shine, no life

I saw blank rock that was perfect for a show 

One of that shines the sun’s light onto us

It is a mirror, the moon

A leech of beauty to pose as its own 

A stone that takes what it craves 

A bland look that lets us see what we want

I touched the moon today 

Or tonight

Or whatever time it was for you

Because I can’t tell whether it is day or not, 

When the sun rays are shining at night too.

Sincerely,

The man on the moon

Description:

This poem is in the form of a letter. Specifically, this is a letter from an astronaut, writing to his wife at home. He explains how the moon was not what he expected, being very different from what it looks like on Earth. This is intended to convey the idea that not everything is as it appears. The moon may seem to glow, but it is actually the sun reflecting off it. When I was younger, the only thing that would calm me down was going outside and looking at the moon. As I grew older, I learned why the moon looks the way it does, but it still brings me calm. 

[ Writing Editor: Anonymous. ]