Will Poetry On Mars Be Ruby Red

for Ray Bradbury

will poetry on Mars be ruby red

I said to myself when you were dead

or rumored to be

tracing your trajectory

with my small hour glass upturned

and filtering pink sands

will poetry on mars be ruby red

and will the things the children will be fed

be only red onions red cabbage too

in every possible form of stew

or beets on the side

after the turn on the merry go round is through

unless we smuggle garnets in

and will pomegranates rule

these things you might have answered here

had you but lingered in the year 

you left it as it is

I cant decide if strawberry fizz

is the exact right color for the moon

when viewed from Mars..

you would answer were you here

in candy bars, or pumpkin fears

as it is, I'll persevere

wishing we'd asked you in the days

before you went so far away.

mary angela douglas 10 october  2020