Tempest clouds atop Olympus Mons
Dust devils spin by the bottom
Temperature is holding
Extravagant, the call of the wild
In my journey this strange autumn.

Doused in optimism
Application by design
I hold my nerve and guile
As I traverse this barren soil

Radioactive rocket man – am I
With just a ship and toxic fuel
Expanding humanity with such profanity
Like an extraordinary extraplanetary fool.

I think of days under the Floridian sun
Alas, I’ll be home again soon
To see my wife, daughter and son
Once my work here is done.

They will be waiting for me to land
No in-flight movie on demand

Lift off is zero-nine hundred
I retract the ladder.
The rocket thunders
I’m heading for the stars
Life can be so lonely
here on mars.