Morse’s Picnic on the Moon is a young people’s book with a serious message for world peace. It’s Morse’s notion that while Earthlings picnic on the Moon, they overlook its hidden inhabitants who live in peace surrounded by lunar tranquility.

Featured Image: Joep Bertrams. Picnic on the Moon.

See Brian Morse. Picnic on the Moon Picnic on the Moon. Illustrated by Joep Bertrams. London: Turton & Chambers, 1990

A picnic on the Moon

is a silent affair
as absence of air
is inconducive
to serious conversation.

Sandwiches on the Moon
drift out of reach
hilarious the first time,
funny the second
the pollution robot has been programmed
to retrieve them.

Football on the Moon
is impossible.
All ball-games are equally impossible,
baseball, cricket, snooker.
The okey-cokey is banned.

And when the party’s over,
then it’s time to face
the blue-and-green orb
floating in the ethereal blackness,
tug of Earth Mother
lost for ever.

‘Gather possession.
It’s time to depart,”
intones the robot-guide
over the intercom.
‘The solar winds are turning.
Gather possessions.’

After each departure,
the moon-mice come out to play
“Our grandparents saw the explosions,’ they twitter.
“They saw the explosions.
What did they mean? What did they mean?’