Olympus Mons
I walk along canyons far deeper and drier than those in Flagstaff,
Beneath volcanoes far higher than the Himalaya and older still.
I walk along starways lit far more brightly
Than the dark illuminations of my meager dreams,
And offer tears for canals that have vanished in the sands
And bacteria that had died long before we had landed.
I place a plaque at the base of Mons Olympus:
To the memory of
Heinlein,
Clarke,
Bradbury,
and
Asimov.
Were it not for them,
We would not have come.
