Mars is a stupid planet. Going there

is stupid. Backed up fluid

pressing on your eyes blurring your vision

one percent bone loss each month

oh shit, you never thought about all that

landing in an airless place

too weak to walk part blind a little dizzy

brain damage from gamma rays

you people are assholes throwing away

money we need here

like Michigan’s state motto says: If you

seek a pleasant peninsula

look around you – we have a perfectly

great planet here with unsolved

conundrums like why, when I look at Klimt

do I love how he sees trees

more than how he sees rich and poor ladies

and other problems easy

to solve like how I paid a guy to fix

our screen and now there’s a bee

menacing me impotently outside

it only cost $20 but you

dream only of yourselves

even driving on a foggy evening

down the mountain feeling like

someone’s in the backseat though you’re alone

it isn’t enough for you

out the windows the leaves signal to you

even astronauts describe

our air as thick enough to slice

and spread on toast for breakfast

a legislator here on Earth has said

let’s pass a law outlawing

homosexual spaceflight for the good

of our shared future but here

on Earth beneath the ragged ends of clouds

coming off the Atlantic

we can all lie in my bed and drink wine

and what kind of wine do you

expect to find up there? dusty old wine

Photograph © Cameron Russell