By Scott Hammond
Mars is the second smallest planet in our solar system, with two tiny moons called
Phobos and Deimos. This is a short poem inspired by the connection between the planet
and its moons.
Small, smaller, smallest still
The three of us together
Apart, yet connected
Drawn together like the embrace of parental love
Your mass holds us together
Fear and dread banished in our wake
Quick and slow, quick and slow
We two waltz around you elegantly
Travelling as one
Eye to the telescope,
One can only see red
We have dried our tears
And blink instead to screen our skin
From light and dust,
Wind and rust
That shifts and settles
And scars our mother’s face
All rocks and metal
Rugged as the Clydebuilt ships my grandfather sailed,
She carries us on shoulders strong
An epic voyage
Around and around and around
Anti clockwise, east to west
“We’re dancing mother, look we’re flying”
And in the shadows I follow you
And contemplate the balance we have found
It’s quiet here in the night, and cold but still
I remember the steps
And on we dance through light and dark
With pirouettes and silhouettes
Our bodies entwined for aeons
’til we return to the stars.
FRETS CREATIVE 