Footsteps on Mars
By marandina
- 5841 reads
In the dead of an iridescent moonlit night,
in an amphitheatre of curious crickets,
chirping in the rattling reed bush,
I am camped under a haven of canvas,
my torch a beacon, child’s imagination alight.
My meandering mind is drifting, roaming,
prescient aboard a tin-can, space rocket,
hurtling past silent stars and cosmic dust,
meteors, flaring comets and sunlit photons
streaming a path towards a God of war.
Descending from a stratosphere, below endless ebony,
lucid dreams of cloudless atmosphere,
Phobos and Deimos cast solemn shadows across a stellar Sun
Moon-memories of millennia in solitude,
satellites at the edge of an iron oxide land.
Canyons of Valles Marines, east of Tharsis Bulge,
Borealis Basin, Martian, Polar ice caps, Olympus Mons
standing high above the plains of Amazonis Planitia,
a sweeping world of geological wonders,
a once thriving home to celestial ancestors from alien lore.
And as I turn another page, a further chapter
and ponder metaphors of life and planets,
a journey bound by the physics of nascence,
a joyous reverie sees me open a cargo bay door
and take those first, footsteps on Mars.
Image free to use at WikiCommons https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:OSIRIS_Mars_true_color.jpg
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Comments
Sounds wonderful Paul
Sounds wonderful Paul I wonder if we'll see the day! The immediate future is much more bleak but more sure. Closer to home.
The Moon, in her pale desolate beauty, cold and dead, that is very close hold your breath, a colony on the moon. That is the real race, the Moon, still.
Looks as if you like camping, I do also I love it and don't mind my own company either.
All the best! Tom Brown
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Hi Paul, what a wonderful
Hi Paul, what a wonderful inspirational poem. I just love how you describe in your imagination, being out with nature and gazing up at the planets, with all the natural sights and sounds around.
I heard that there could be life underground on Mars, which would be amazing...but then I've always believed we're not the only life in the universe, and even believe we're sharing earth with so many species that we've yet to discover, and some that are invisible to the human eye, but that's just my opinion and I know not everyone has the same beliefs.
Thank you for sharing this wonderful poem.
Jenny.
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Nice imagery and a skilfully
Nice imagery and a skilfully controlled cadence..
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It works very well as is, but
It works very well as is, but then we're never satisfied with our own stuff, are we? Would be interested to see what alterations you might make to it. I think the recent activity on Mars has rekindled a lot of people's interest in space exploration - just being able to say 'the recent activity on Mars' makes me feel I'm in an SF story! I loved 'camped under a haven of canvas' Brilliant phrase.
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I liked "haven of canvas" too
I liked "haven of canvas" too, and also the contrast of "tin can" with all the exotic names
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bootprints on the moon
Hello Paul! I've wondered sometimes what you mean by a man “walking on the Moon”. Well strictly speaking you cannot. There is no direct contact with your body like when walking barefoot at home. In fact you walk on the soles of your boots and not the lunar surface and ground it itself. As in if I was in my seat in the lunar rover, am I the first man sitting on the moon?
Just technical I guess, but it bothers me. Keep well && Nolan
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I think an imaginary journey
I think an imaginary journey is far better than the actual could be! I've enjoyed children's books depicting such visit, and written myself for chidren I think.
As for life on Mars — if it could evolve from the inanimate on earth, it could do so on Mars probably, but as it cannot and hasn't, then it cannot and won't have! Rhiannon
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watched a great film about
watched a great film about Neil Armstrong. I guess he felt much the same thing, a weighty experience.
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cherrries!
Congratulations, Cherries well deserved! Nolan &
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Hi Paul
Hi Paul
Another beautiful poem, such vivid imagery.
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Hi marandina,
Hi marandina,
I liked the alliteration in this at the beginning and the rest of it showed such imagination. Nice one!
hilary
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I enjoyed your poem. It is a
I enjoyed your poem. It is a good journey of the imagination, even if it is not, or never becomes real! Well imagined!
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Hi Paul
Hi Paul
Beautifully done. I love all the clever word picture.
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