Space

Earth conquered, to further our quest,

Inter-galactic space, us, intrepid guest.

But as rockets ready to zoom away,

Inner space cries for exploring today.

For our minds hold vast, growing content

Of hard facts owned, soft fictions lent,

Fuzzy measures taken, imagined figments,

Logical conclusions, mimetic replicants

Inestimable value, and negative worth,

Measurable guidance, pleasurable mirth,

Library of gods, supernatural transitions

Angels and demons, ghostly apparitions,

Devils, ogres, weird ethereal guests,

Nags, trolls, poltergeists, other pests,

E. S. Perception, psycho-kinetic motion,

 Witches brew, crystals, and magic potion.

Inner space — crowded, knotted, tangled,

Some ideas wrinkled, some new fangled,

Wouldn’t it be nice, for needed change,

If we sorted it out on our mental range,

Set real world as the tactile understood,

What’s been conjured, just as good,

But labeled “entertainment” so all know well,

It’s play-act make-believe we’re trying to sell.

And once it’s straight we’ll don our suit,

Board our missile and ready the shoot —

On second thought, forget sorting our mind,

For humanity may look and never find,

A way to distinguish real fact from fiction,

Without argument and incessant friction.

So jump in the ship and count to zero,

Light the jolly fuse, and away we go,

To pierce skies, explorer mantle tough,

Latest money can buy, the right stuff,

And with us the baggage of inner space,

The stuff we’re made of, the human race.