What Martians Read

What Martians Read, by Mary Soon Lee

All the miscellaneous minutiae
mandated by law and circumstance:
dosimeters, depressurization protocols,
equipment manuals, mineral assays,
cargo manifests, import/export tariffs,
texts on recycling, hydroponics,
agroecology, autonomous mining.
Commonplace. Practical. Dull.
And, in addition, assorted information
on moles and meerkats—
their diet, habits, inclinations,
care, breeding, lineages,
profiles of popular individuals
with every exploit exaggerated,
plus volume after volume
of fanciful fossorial fiction—
as if it were not enough
that Martians dwell underground
but that they must elevate this act
to art, to a matter of principle,
praising the burrowing beasts
they ferried with them at such cost,
spending every spare scrap of scrip
on earthworms, beetles, soil
to please their small compatriots.

DreamForge Anvil © 2022 DreamForge Press
What Martians Read © 2022 Mary Soon Lee

Mary Soon Lee

Mary Soon Lee was born and raised in London, but has lived in Pittsburgh for thirty years. She is a Grand Master of the Science Fiction & Fantasy Poetry Association, and a three-time winner of both the AnLab Readers’ Award and the Rhysling Award. Her latest books are from opposite shores of the poetry ocean: How to Navigate Our Universe, containing how-to astronomy poems, and The Sign of the Dragon, novel-length epic fantasy, winner of the Elgin Award. Website: marysoonlee.com.

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