Poetry

The Hubble Returns
by
Steve Doyle

This news just in:

Scientists are baffled by a strange discovery
The Hubble Telescope returned unexpectedly.
It didn't crash as first suspected
It was found intact when inspected.
They were at a loss till they found the note
Hidden inside the telescope:

We happened to be in your neighborhood
Thought we'd stop by and do some good.
We found this telescope out in the stars.
We hope it's yours we know it's not ours.
If it's not yours it's you-know-who’s
Those little green men that inhabit our moons!

They're always up to something those little guys.
Think they're coming to colonize.
They're nothing but trouble, those green little men.
You know the asteroid belt? Yep, That was them.
An accident they said,  one of their experiments.
Blasted that lovely planet into all those fragments.

Nuclear laser experiments; What could be stupider?
We're just lucky they didn't hit Jupiter!
At least they used some discretion
They didn’t point that thing in your direction.

So if this telescope isn't yours
We'll go up and bang on their doors.
We'll do what it takes to keep them in line.
Who knows what they're up to this time?

A Prayer Under A Strange Sun
by
Terri Main
       

Father,
Here I am
Kneeling on orange soil
Under a green sky
Beneath a tree of living stone

But it’s still me, Lord.
I’m still that little girl
Staring at foil stars
Pasted on my ceiling
Late at night when everyone else slept

I sought meaning in those stars
But they were only foil
Then I rode fire in the sky
Folded time and space
And walked on orange soil
Under a green sky
And beheld a tree of living stone

The whisper of the air cycling unit
Sings in my ears
The filters on my face plate darken
The white sun rises
Washing away the colors of  night
The time of returning is near.

I scan the horizon
One more time
The orange and green have faded, Lord
And I cannot see the tree of living stone
Against the glare.

I rode fire in the heavens
Folded time and space
Who would have believed
That I would first see your Glory
Kneeling in Orange soil
Under a green sky
Beneath a tree of living stone