She’s the Indiana Jones of Mars.
The brave one, the bold one, the one
That knows no fear. She landed on Mars
With a jazz hands “Ta DAAH!!!”
Like a movie star at a film premier
Posing for the paparazzi, tossing back her hair
In the flashbulbs’ glare.
Then off she sped on her whirlwind tour of landmarks,
Hopscotching between fascinating places,
Her eagle eyes spotting meteorites here, there
And everywhere; driving into craters with
All the glee of Lara Croft dropping through a long-lost temple’s roof,
Eager to see the treasures hidden inside.
When Spirit died there was no time for mourning.
Each new steel-blue dawn was a gift and she grabbed it,
Racing across the Great Meridiani dust sea
To climb triumphantly up onto Cape York’s stony beach
On the edge of Endeavour, the crater
The “experts” said she’d never reach.
And there she is today, more than a marathon away
From El Capitan’s parchment-thin layers,
And the martian bunny the Net’s tin foil hat-wearing nutters
Spotted hiding beneath her cocoa powder-stained airbags.
14 long years after landing (in YOUR face Mark Whatney!)
She’s still going strong. Winds whistling up Perseverance Valley
Have swept the dust from her back leaving her showroom clean
And keener than ever to explore. When she grows bored
Of Endeavour’s clay-rich charms, the towering cliffs of Iazu
Await to the south, just one more impossible drive away…
© Stuart Atkinson 2018
Astropoetry 