Ballad of The ISS

The following post is a poem I have dedicated to the crew of the International Space Station. This poem is all those who built the station and all those who all live in her and hope to benefit from the discoveries to be made.

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It began in the 1980s, as you will really see
Different countries all felt that there should be
A single place in space for all the world
For every little boy and every little girl
Each country had their station planned
With the helping hand of their everyman
They decided to build it together

Over the decade that followed
The news that the world swallowed
Of a international space station
Made of parts from every nation
When they finally agree on the design
It passed unto the hands of astronauts
Who had all of their waited time

From one module sent by rocket
From no one's greed it would pocket
With shuttle and soyuz crews
They built the station for me and you
It took longer than anyone thought
Because of the shuttle that was lost
For which the world again mourned

Finally, the shuttle flights happened again
And the station gained back a trusted friend
And the parts kept coming, a piece at a time
Every nation wanted their part in space
And those nations were given their place
From two, to three, to six, the numbers grew
And no one on board said we're through

The station that took a long time
Became the news on everyone's mind
From the shores of America and Canada
To the barrien lands of Mother Russia
They came to talk about the station
About the dream from 50 years before
Of the places we would go

Maybe a hundred years from now
No one knows where or how
The station will still be over our heads
The builders of it all quite dead
But the memory of what they did
Passed from parent to kid
And the children of future nations
Will have the International Space Station

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To all have had a hand in the International Space Station, I dedicate this poem.