Elizabeth Barrette (ysabetwordsmith) wrote,
Elizabeth Barrette
ysabetwordsmith
  • Mood: thoughtful

Moment of Silence: Sally Ride and Poem "She Walks ..."

Sally Ride, the first American woman in orbit, has passed away.  She flew in two shuttle missions during the 1980s.  I remember watching her on television; it was very exciting to see a woman going into space.

She Walks in Light and Darkness
-- an elegy for Sally Ride, 1951-2012


She walks in starlight,
spaceclad now with no need of a suit.

She walks in moonlight,
spirit-feet bare in the floury surface of the craters.

She walks in sunlight,
ribbons of infrared and ultraviolet woven into her hair.

She walks in darkness,
touring the far side of the moon and the spots of the sun.

She walks in spirit where she walked in thought,
and behind her the daughters of tomorrow lift their eyes to the sky.

* * * 
mabfan has posted about when he met Sally Ride.  Remember, our heroes live on in the stories we tell.

Nicola Griffith has written about Sally Ride and Tam O'Shaughnessy.

Tags: gender studies, history, moment of silence, news, poem, poetry, space exploration
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  • 71 comments
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lyonesse

lyonesse

July 24 2012, 01:12:53 UTC 8 years ago

that's lovely. thank you.
ysabetwordsmith

You're welcome!

ysabetwordsmith

July 24 2012, 01:38:12 UTC 8 years ago

I'm glad you like it.
browngirl

browngirl

July 24 2012, 01:47:12 UTC 8 years ago

You have outdone yourself with this gorgeous, gorgeous tribute to an amazing woman. *applauds, wiping tears from my eyes*
ysabetwordsmith

*bow, flourish*

ysabetwordsmith

July 24 2012, 01:56:00 UTC 8 years ago

Happy to be of service.

I'm seeing a big outpouring of posts from people who looked up to Sally Ride. Lady left deep footprints.
drewkitty

Re: *bow, flourish*

drewkitty

8 years ago

  • New comment
ysabetwordsmith

Re: *bow, flourish*

ysabetwordsmith

8 years ago

  • New comment
judifilksign

judifilksign

July 24 2012, 01:47:17 UTC 8 years ago

Very nice. Thank you for this elegy to one of my childhood heroes.
ysabetwordsmith

You're welcome!

ysabetwordsmith

July 24 2012, 01:54:38 UTC 8 years ago

Feel free to share it.

*ponder* It occurs to me, with the repetition, this one might look good translated into sign language. I know only a tiny bit about about signed poetry, but one of the things that stuck is the use of repeated gestures or the same hand-shapes in different words to create a poetic effect of continuity.
technoshaman

technoshaman

8 years ago

  • New comment
ysabetwordsmith

Yes, please!

ysabetwordsmith

8 years ago

  • New comment
pickledginger

pickledginger

8 years ago

  • New comment
ysabetwordsmith

Thank you!

ysabetwordsmith

8 years ago

  • New comment
pickledginger

Re: Thank you!

pickledginger

8 years ago

  • New comment
ysabetwordsmith

Re: Thank you!

ysabetwordsmith

8 years ago

  • New comment
pickledginger

pickledginger

8 years ago

  • New comment
ysabetwordsmith

Yes...

ysabetwordsmith

8 years ago

  • New comment
pickledginger

nasa's future?

pickledginger

8 years ago

  • New comment
technoshaman

technoshaman

8 years ago

  • New comment
ysabetwordsmith

Yes...

ysabetwordsmith

8 years ago

  • New comment
thnidu

thnidu

8 years ago

  • New comment
baranduin

baranduin

July 24 2012, 02:20:08 UTC 8 years ago

Here from browngirl's rec. This is a beautiful tribute. Thank you.
ysabetwordsmith

You're welcome!

ysabetwordsmith

July 24 2012, 02:31:52 UTC 8 years ago

I'm glad you found this so touching. Thanks for letting me know where you came from, too -- I'm getting some new traffic on this post.

I have a lot of poetry on my blog, if you like poetry; and the elegies are under the "moment of silence" tag.
baranduin

baranduin

8 years ago

  • New comment
pickledginger

pickledginger

8 years ago

  • New comment
ysabetwordsmith

Thank you!

ysabetwordsmith

8 years ago

  • New comment
thnidu

thnidu

July 24 2012, 02:43:20 UTC 8 years ago Edited:  July 24 2012, 02:43:40 UTC

Oh, thank you.
ysabetwordsmith

You're welcome!

ysabetwordsmith

July 24 2012, 04:40:22 UTC 8 years ago

I'm glad you appreciate this one.
acelightning

acelightning

July 24 2012, 05:14:29 UTC 8 years ago

When I was a little girl, I wanted to be the first woman astronaut, but Valentina Tereshkova beat me to it. So then I wanted to be the first American woman astronaut, but Sally Ride beat me to it. I wasn't jealous (just envious, which is different) - the important thing was, she did it. She did it for every one of us who was once a little girl looking up at the stars...

Thank you for this.
ysabetwordsmith

You're welcome!

ysabetwordsmith

July 24 2012, 05:46:43 UTC 8 years ago

I'm glad you like this.

I've always been homesick for space, but also knew this body would never put up with zero-gravity. So I live vicariously.
technoshaman

technoshaman

8 years ago

  • New comment
ysabetwordsmith

Well...

ysabetwordsmith

8 years ago

  • New comment
acelightning

Re: You're welcome!

acelightning

8 years ago

  • New comment
ysabetwordsmith

Re: You're welcome!

ysabetwordsmith

8 years ago

  • New comment
acelightning

Re: You're welcome!

acelightning

8 years ago

  • New comment
ysabetwordsmith

Re: You're welcome!

ysabetwordsmith

8 years ago

  • New comment
acelightning

Re: You're welcome!

acelightning

8 years ago

  • New comment
pyraxis

Re: You're welcome!

pyraxis

8 years ago

  • New comment
ysabetwordsmith

Re: You're welcome!

ysabetwordsmith

8 years ago

  • New comment
siege

Re: You're welcome!

siege

8 years ago

  • New comment
ysabetwordsmith

Re: You're welcome!

ysabetwordsmith

8 years ago

  • New comment
acelightning

Re: You're welcome!

acelightning

8 years ago

  • New comment
ysabetwordsmith

Re: You're welcome!

ysabetwordsmith

8 years ago

  • New comment
pyraxis

Re: You're welcome!

pyraxis

8 years ago

  • New comment
acelightning

Re: You're welcome!

acelightning

8 years ago

  • New comment
red_trillium

red_trillium

July 24 2012, 07:32:02 UTC 8 years ago

That is beautiful.
dichroic

dichroic

July 24 2012, 09:23:11 UTC 8 years ago

Love love love love love this.
ysabetwordsmith

Thank you!

ysabetwordsmith

July 24 2012, 16:41:48 UTC 8 years ago

I'm happy to hear this.
claudia603

claudia603

July 24 2012, 11:16:48 UTC 8 years ago

Here from browngirl's rec and baranduin's rec. Beautiful and eloquent.
ysabetwordsmith

Thank you!

ysabetwordsmith

July 24 2012, 17:32:38 UTC 8 years ago

I'm glad you liked this.
shirebound

shirebound

July 24 2012, 12:17:40 UTC 8 years ago

Truly beautiful. Many thanks to browngirl for the link.
ysabetwordsmith

*bow, flourish*

ysabetwordsmith

July 24 2012, 17:17:42 UTC 8 years ago

Happy to be of service. I'm glad you appreciated this.
mabfan

mabfan

July 24 2012, 13:38:05 UTC 8 years ago

Lovely poem.
ysabetwordsmith

Thank you!

ysabetwordsmith

July 24 2012, 16:14:47 UTC 8 years ago

I'm glad you like this.

Deleted comment

ysabetwordsmith

Thank you!

ysabetwordsmith

July 24 2012, 17:16:51 UTC 8 years ago

I'm glad you found this so touching.
jilara

And about her identity

jilara

July 24 2012, 18:11:31 UTC 8 years ago

Wonderful tribute!

And now it turns out it can be known that Sally was also the first lesbian in space. In her obit, we find out that she had a life partner of 27 years, and that her sexual identity was known to all of her friends. But it was not a time for such to be known. How proud and hopeful she must have been to see "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" abolished!

Commentary:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michelangelo-signorile/sally-ride-american-hero_b_1697871.html
ysabetwordsmith

Re: And about her identity

ysabetwordsmith

July 24 2012, 18:23:02 UTC 8 years ago

Yes, I think this is pretty awesome too.
acelightning

Re: And about her identity

acelightning

8 years ago

  • New comment
ysabetwordsmith

Re: And about her identity

ysabetwordsmith

8 years ago

  • New comment
acelightning

Re: And about her identity

acelightning

8 years ago

  • New comment
synnabar

synnabar

July 25 2012, 19:52:23 UTC 8 years ago

Beautiful. Just beautiful.
ysabetwordsmith

Thank you!

ysabetwordsmith

July 26 2012, 00:33:11 UTC 8 years ago

I'm glad you like it.
paka

paka

July 25 2012, 20:49:24 UTC 8 years ago

It's unspeakably sad to have this nice lady spent so much time trying to teach this simple bit of equality - that girls can grow up knowing that space, too, is open to them - and yet have the whole space program so undercut that equality isn't even an issue anymore, nobody's going to grow up to be an astronaut anymore.
ysabetwordsmith

Too true...

ysabetwordsmith

July 26 2012, 00:32:46 UTC 8 years ago

The jobs that people aspire to are diminishing. Few people aspire to be cashiers or janitors, but that's much of what remains in the job market.
paka

Re: Too true...

paka

8 years ago

  • New comment
ysabetwordsmith

Re: Too true...

ysabetwordsmith

8 years ago

  • New comment
paka

Re: Too true...

paka

8 years ago

  • New comment
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  • Birdfeeding

    Today is mostly sunny, muggy, and warm. I fed the birds. I've seen house finches. I took a few pictures in the yard. EDIT 7/4/21 -- I picked half…

  • Birdfeeding

    Today is sunny and mild. I fed the birds. I've seen house finches and sparrows. I raked the firepit and laid a chimney of sticks in it. We broke up…

  • Photographs

    I took some pictures of my yard today. Read about what makes a good wildlife yard and Fieldhaven as habitat. The larger brush pile is still…