Sonneteer's note: this is the latest installment of an on-going sonnet serial, Pepito Mojito: The Interstellar Feller. New readers can get up to speed by clicking on the "Interstellar Feller" tag below to bring up all installments. Start at the bottom and read your way up to today's.....
A swiftly flowing stream meets Pepi's gaze,
Its course through red sands straight and finely cut --
So much so that, we say, though it amaze
Us fully, it just can't be natural. What
We see is a canal! The cacogens
Move quickly to connect to it a pump
And hoses and a tank. Pepito's friends
Replenish thus the ship's reserves. Then thump!
Some dense projectile's impact sounds upon
The tank's side! Pepi hears a battle cry
And sees a squad of angry red men on
The far side of the water. Do or die,
Their fierce expressions seem to say. "Um, hey..."
Is all Pepito seems able to say.
Showing posts with label Barsoom. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Barsoom. Show all posts
Saturday, January 2, 2010
Saturday, April 4, 2009
In Which I Relish The Stories From Far Barsoom
I can't get over how much pulpy fun
Is to be had in these groovy old tales
Of far Barsoom. I'm glad I'm not yet done
With all eleven books. Amazing fails
As a descriptive term. While all cliches
Of pulp at its most base appear herein:
The manly men 'pon whom the damsels gaze
In helpless admiration as they win
Each battle, by their arms or wits and beat
All odds; the ugly, evil foes who lose
Each time... Simplicity deceives. Too neat
A story seems, but look again and choose
To see beyond the pulp into the wise
And wry comments on people and their lies.
Is to be had in these groovy old tales
Of far Barsoom. I'm glad I'm not yet done
With all eleven books. Amazing fails
As a descriptive term. While all cliches
Of pulp at its most base appear herein:
The manly men 'pon whom the damsels gaze
In helpless admiration as they win
Each battle, by their arms or wits and beat
All odds; the ugly, evil foes who lose
Each time... Simplicity deceives. Too neat
A story seems, but look again and choose
To see beyond the pulp into the wise
And wry comments on people and their lies.
Sunday, March 1, 2009
In Which A Tardigrade Is Not So Tardy
We learn today of a panarthopod
Who will stray far indeed from its home moss
When Russia sends it spacewards with a squad
Of other creatures, all the way across
To one of the twin moons of far Barsoom.
I will confess that ere this Sunday came
I'd never heard of tardigrades. I fume
A bit to learn that one could claim
To be the first on Phobos. I confess:
I'm on the fence about this. On one hand
A test to see how life forms stand this stress
Is vital to our long-term future, planned
To outlive our wee sun. Still, though, I doubt
A water bear ambassador has clout.
Who will stray far indeed from its home moss
When Russia sends it spacewards with a squad
Of other creatures, all the way across
To one of the twin moons of far Barsoom.
I will confess that ere this Sunday came
I'd never heard of tardigrades. I fume
A bit to learn that one could claim
To be the first on Phobos. I confess:
I'm on the fence about this. On one hand
A test to see how life forms stand this stress
Is vital to our long-term future, planned
To outlive our wee sun. Still, though, I doubt
A water bear ambassador has clout.
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