Life on Mars
His walk to college
at times would cross
the path of the man
who won the Nobel Prize
and inspired him
to go in the first place
having invented this thing
called quantum mechanics
this thin being
never wasted words
On some days
he would cross the street
in front of him
his arm pulled behind his back
and when they crossed paths
the undergraduate
wondered if he could ever
push himself that far
and it was sport
to read the chalkboards
that filled in the hall
and try to make sense
of the equations of
the grand unified field
Some in the Department
said the man knew
the secret
of the universe
but talk is cheap
that’s why we do mathematics
And on his way back from college
he passes by the dorm room window
playing music
across the quadrangle
the Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald
He looks down
to the sidewalk
where someone painted
a quote from Paul Atreides
With each step
the flesh surrenders itself
and eternity takes back its own
Our bodies stirred these waters briefly
danced with a certain intoxication
before the love of life and self
dealt with a few strange ideas
then submitted to the instruments of Time.
What can we say of this?
I occurred.
I am not…yet
I occurred.
And some days
he sits
with pen and paper
across the street
from the yard
of the great man
wondering
what kind of work
really matters
or if he could ever
push himself that hard
He was
a man who said
that scientists try to explain things
no one has ever understood
in ways everyone can
and poets try to explain things
everyone already understands
in ways that no one can
but the sun grows dim
so he sets down his pen
and reflects
upon a childhood memory
of a dolphin
that hit his beach one day
internal compass
gone wrong
and for whatever reason
crashing onshore
and even though
he was young
he knew
if it did not
get out of the sun
it would die
the plastic pail
of water
pouring over
its gray skin
while other men
some noble
gathered around
and lifted up
the dolphin
to carry it back
to the ocean
disoriented
it returns
and the men
struggle
their strength almost over
at last succeed
the dolphin recedes
on the horizon
time for a drink
Then he remembers
his mother
driving him
in her car
past the place he thought
was a haunted castle
and he remembers the light
that shone through
broken bottles
affixed to the top of the wall
in shades of green
and brown
and blue
But the sun
has decided the matter
and if he would work
it must be elsewhere
so he gathers his pen and paper
and makes his way
across the sidewalk
thumbing a coin
in his pocket
reflecting
if given
it will be gone
and whoever gets it
will have one
and he none
a zero sum game
and he wonders
how an idea
can be given
and when it is
they have one
and so does he
Behind the wall
of broken glass
his memories bounce
into the past
a child’s view
of the Post Mansion
it encircled until it came down
but to a young mind
it is a great lesson
to learn
that men will come
and they will go
but the sea goes on
Walking home
he smiles
beneath the same broad sky
as young Elon
except flip day to night
and the image
of a gray dolphin
cutting the water
like a nation
trying to make way
through disinformation
A man named Paul
A president named Kamala
And Elon will interview Donald John Trump
on Monday
Let’s hope he’s brave enough
to ask the questions
and not just act like so many other Trump supporters
cowering away from the real answers
and the weirdly small accordion hands
playing the song of lies
like a poker tell
for if life
will go on at all
a father embrace will his son
even if he is a daughter
and move away from the work
of Trump’s father
who marked people
C for Colored
just like they did once
in South Africa
This is our world
and this is our future
And one day
the sun will set blue
and our soul within
will grown to a compass true
There will be life on Mars
It will be me.
It will be you.
