ON MARS

ON MARS

do not breathe the air
the atmosphere
will scramble your brains
more than
they have already
been
scrambled

this is the red planet
getting redder by the day

planet of war and
hard masculinity
in human mythology

sister planet; brother world
look into this glass
and see our world, the one
you left behind
collapse into chaos

the Martians, though, are
ready for you
     have read that story
by Ray Bradbury

are about to lull you into
the belief that
there can be a place
in this Universe to
find or build
equivalent to Heaven

will strike and destroy
when you are living that
dream
     threatening to
destroy their civilization, colonize
them out of existence

sometimes ones salvation
lies in the strategy
     most insidious of all