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Sojourner on the Red Planet
Today, the Fourth of July,
In the year of the Lord, 1997,
America commemorates her birthday
And regales the world with a rare and sublime gift;
Sojourner on the red planet,
That scans for a modicum of life
On a far and thirsty wasteland.
It’s all in the news,
And a man of wisdom says:
‘We need to know the history of Mars,
Why so red and no life bears?
Why Venus is fair and forlorn?
Whether we be on a fate as one of them?’
And the robot trudges on and on,
Clamps hard on rock and dust -
A real son of his father,
Who churns and grubs the earth
In desperate quest for gold.
And tomorrow the earth lies forlorn:
A specimen for tomorrow-people,
Who may as well be along
This dire fate that eats life.
