A couple years ago a group of friends set out on their yearly expedition to construct an encounter at Burning Man, entitled ‘The Last Apothecary’ – a space outpost with all the traces of humanity that entails.  While I have never been to the burn I wanted to contribute in my way, so when word came down that they were doing a storytime night, and needed space related poems, I put pen to paper – figuratively.  The results were the following three, of greatly varied quality…

Terra Farewell

I took the second star to the right,
I went straight until morning
The universe swallowed me up.

The sky has a thirst unquenchable,
It will drink from you all you have
And then take one last sup.

The Dipper promised me much,
And in the end that vow was broken
I am left with an empty cup.

A Terrible Space Limerick

I met a fine man down from Mars
He hung out in all the best bars
But when he would drink
You can’t imagine the stink
They’d smell it out into the stars

The Spaceman’s Grave

A meteor flashed against the sky
Sweet final song of a dying world
I never thought to wonder why
A last toll should be procured
From those who boldly ventured out
With no thought of harm to self
Never a concern or doubt
When leaping off that final shelf
Into the mysteries that lay far flung
Masked in blackness of the night
To be snuffed out at a time so young
And then to be but this scar of light
The end marked only by this brief wave
And into finally the spaceman’s grave