The Rover has landed where
Future properties will be listed
On Redfin or Zillow or some other
That glow red and stronger
For people who dare to escape
Into thin non-air with lighter feet
Set on unplowed layers of powder
Of dust blowing in the violent alien wind.
Baptized in the shower of cosmic rays
Signs of life will stubbornly answer again
An eon-old quest which will be raw
And refuse to negotiate
Terms and Conditions of unmitigated risks
Which are the only hello Mars will say
To travellers, the mere bits and specks.
Every atom and molecule caught in
Ever morphing solid liquid gas and plasma
Will be swept into
Crucibles of fission and fusion
Until perseverance has overcome
Until terraform settles the dust
Until one day a kid calls Mars home.