MARS

MARS


Red and shades of red and rust and ochre
Deeper blackish rock and the white of frozen water cap
Sandy soil from past erosion cycles
Lumps of rock and ridge and molded mountains
Statues of the imagination like Garden of the Gods
Remain to salute the roving robot eyes and tease the senses
Searching, as we always do, for familiar faces
But this is the god of War and desolation –
How appropriate that there is only the shuttered possibility
Of microbal life left to trace
On the blasted surface ruins
For everywhere are the signs of ancient possibility
For life in swamp and ridge and burrow
For life is a tenacious, grasping force
Capable of manifesting in ascetic extremes
And yet, the endless eternal desert
The round balls of hematite
The seams of unending lifeless geology
The slight vapor of water wicked into thin atmosphere -
That unbreathable carbon dioxide and methane shroud -
Is this the wreckage of some ancient disaster?
Did some carnal force of greed and dominance-seeking
Monstrosity create this desolate island in the solar system?
When we see the cratered wilderness stretching to far horizon
When we see the endless march of eroded and inhospitable ground
Do we not stand for a moment on the precipice of “what could be?”
Do we not see the potential of our human greed-lusted and desolate future
Staring out from that red eye?

When the Rover and Curiosity equivalent reach Earth’s stony plains
Will alien minds think they see strange statues and boxy edifices
Rounded rough…”are those pyramids?…and is that an alien face?”
Worn down into near-geological formations?
Will they be scorned for their over-active imaginations?
Or will our radio and television signals blast the story to the void
Our last voice rippling out in a wave of horror and history
And we, marker fossils on the bleak, uninhabited Earth
Curled into seas of bone-white calcium deposits
Speak cautionary tales to enterprising visitors
Of fragility and tragedy and the echoing cry of ‘why?’
As they ponder our psychology in the mystery
Of how we let ourselves, our planet, die…

And Mars – whether it is a world never able to blossom
Or one that once held creatures not unlike our own -
Can give us pause to think the ‘what if’
Of our own bit of flotsam in the black, unforgiving ocean of space
Before we tip the balance too far from tempting grace
To Four Horsemen and fields scattered with remnants of our race
(Oh the irony if our last stand be a colony on that red planet’s face)
May we find wisdom in our humanness
Before our fate is Mars
Oh God of War
And from our once-fertile Earth
Rises a Monument to Hate


- AB


(Rather gloomy, I know, but this thought has been brewing in me for a while...thanks for reading!)

reply to post by AboveBoard


Hi there. I think it's great. And to cut the details of what I believe out. I think your right about mars.

Is this the wreckage of some ancient disaster? Did some carnal force of greed and dominance-seeking Monstrosity create this desolate island in the solar system?

In a word...Yes!.... Start and flag for you. Very nice

reply to post by AboveBoard


Okay, I'll be honest. On my first read through I read it with the highly jaded eyes of the critic I am. I thought it sounded hastily put together and a bit rambling at times.

Then I read it again. This time with my artists eyes.

This is a beautiful, deep, thought provoking piece of work. You have a very unique artistic signature. I now look forward to any future work you would be generous enough to share with us.

I feel sorry now, I judged to quickly.

Good work AboveBoard.

Kallisti

reply to post by AboveBoard


This is a beautiful piece. Thank you for sharing

reply to post by TheDoctor46


Hey there, Doc!

Thank you for reading, and I appreciate hearing your opinion on the potential past of Mars.
I'm hoping we get smart and don't become the trilobites of this geological age!

peace to you,

AB

CagliostroTheGreat
reply to post by AboveBoard

 

Okay, I'll be honest. On my first read through I read it with the highly jaded eyes of the critic I am. I thought it sounded hastily put together and a bit rambling at times.

Then I read it again. This time with my artists eyes.

This is a beautiful, deep, thought provoking piece of work. You have a very unique artistic signature. I now look forward to any future work you would be generous enough to share with us.

I feel sorry now, I judged to quickly.

Good work AboveBoard.

Kallisti

Well, I do appreciate your honesty, Kallisti! I haven't had much time to write, and this was a bit spontaneous, though I've been thinking about this subject for a very long while. I was reading some Robert Hayden this morning and was inspired to think poetically. This writing was the result. (He is a Master; I dabble in words.) I thank you for taking a second look with your artist's eyes - you saw to the heart of what I was attempting to accomplish, looked within the writing and imagery, and I'm grateful.

- AB