On August 5th (or 6th depending on your time zone) the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) aboard the Curiosity Rover will land on Mars! This art feature is my tribute to that landing, through dA visions of Mars exploration, real and fiction.
If you want to know more, check out my Quick Guide to Watching the MSL Mars Rover Landing! [link]

Letter to First Poet on Mars
Letter to the first poet on Mars
Do not say "red".
Avoid mention of Ares.
In fact, don't wax classical
at all.
Keep it simple.
Don't drink the water.
There isn't any.
Say there is.
Exaggerate the prospects
for terraforming.
Tell us the weather is nice.
Or, that it will be.
Wish we were there.
Tell us so.
Invent a new word
for red.
Write it.
Make a circle.
Better yet
construct a sphere.
Create a word for gravity
and place it at the center.
Empty the sky of stars.
Give us a proper beginning.
Write: "I've reached the summit
of Olympus Mons,"
and, "from this sacred height,
I can see beyond Tharsis
a world without gods

dreaming cryogenicallyprimary-
secondary-
I am leaping beyond
all calculations
passing through
eternal orbit
of the natural satellite,
bound for the red
only i will see if bradbury's
musings hold water
if water will even
exist to drink
my footprint will
remain until sandstorms
blow it to a dust
i am first to touch
dark, lonely, dreaming
of the journey i am on,
only to wake when the
time for history has come
:thumb297573197:

optic nervei will wear a dress
that rustles like maple leaves
in the wind. i will
find you and hold you
to my chest. you will whisper
me bedtime stories
of how you dream of
us together and apple
trees blooming on mars.









