Bathurst Inlet: A Rock on Mars

A poem based on a random Wikipedia article for National Poetry Month

Image: Kamran Abdullayev via Unsplash+

For Day 6 of the National Poetry Month challenge hosted by

V. Walker | Poet

, the task was to write a poem based on a random Wikipedia article.

I landed on the page for Bathurst Inlet, a rock discovered on Mars by the Curiosity rover.

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Upon mars, silent and barren, sits a rock. 
Imagine the stories it would tell if it could talk. 
What wonders would Bathurst Inlet describe? 
Would it tell tales of a long forgotten tribe? 

Would it tell Curiosity nothing has changed? 
That Mars' past has never been deranged? 
Has Gale Crater never been the site of city, 
erased by an asteroid that feels no pity? 

Did Curiosity ask if it wanted this name? 
A body of water in Canada as its claim to fame. 
Truly, I envy this stone, lost to time and space. 
Not forced to run in our never-ending race. 

Even if it had a tale to share, would we listen? 
As its grains and crystals sparkle and glisten,
or would we move on, thinking we are wiser? 
Seeing ourselves as Mars' great colonizer. 

Curiosity moved on, it was right to feel fear. 
Bathurst Inlet has secrets we should not hear. 
The fate of Mars may very well mirror our own. 
A future that we as a species have collectively sown. 

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A real photo of Bathurst Inlet on Mars taken by the Curiosity Rover

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Thanks for Reading! Here’s Your Musical Pairing

Listen to this after reading, like pairing a glass of wine with Dinner.