space, Darwin, alien, intelligence, évolution

DARWIN 4

I like
to think of myself
of a Victorian naturalist
shot out
of a cannon
into the future
through
space and time into
distant and
bizarre
Goldilocks Zone

to find
myself
taking a stroll like
Imperial British Gentlemen

walking on the
surface of an
alien planet
they
happened to
name after me

freshly equipped with
all my conversions

retractable legs, compound
eyes, downloaded intelligence
and full
hover capabilities
carrying me across the
needle-spine badlands,
the acid seas and lakes
of mercury

looking for
the planet’s raw nerve,
scouring every niche
for signs of
life, impending
intelligence,
hints of the biological

foundations of
new civilizations and
their
inevitable cities
of deep, incandescent pain.