Standing on the brink of Valles Marineris
a canyon spanning twenty five hundred miles
As we stand there I glance at my companion
and we have to share a smile

For we've been dying to explore Mars
climbing down it's six mile depth
exploring all of it's one hundred
twenty five miles secrets of width

We start down a small crevice
and I stumble and nearly fall
he catches me and holds me
but really it wouldn't hurt me at all

I only weigh twenty six kilograms here
but still I don't want to tear my suit
smothering in carbon dioxide air
could not be considered a hoot

We turn on our headlamps
and brighten our lights
as daylight starts to fade
and Mars deep dark night

appears suddenly, just seems to drop
with atmosphere so thin the very stars
you feel you can touch and taste
so very bright and yet so very far

And we can see the two moons,
Deimos and Phobos rising high above
captured asteroids, the companions
of the god of war, each trying to shove

our attention away from what surrounds us
but it does not work
we have things to do and places to see
and we can't afford to shirk

our duties to collect more samples
of what once perhaps  was life
before Mars lost it's water to space
and biology lost it's war to strife

We stroll along a rim of red Martian soil
and look down along a wash
where water flowed at one time
'ere evaporation left the planet harsh

We use our tools to gather samples
hard to believe through our thin suits
we're touching another planets land
leaving behind marks of our boots

to be swept away by Mars fierce winds
as they march to erase and reform
making war upon the craters
and filling the air with huge dust storms

My partner speaks and reminds me
it's time to return to our craft
and I look at him to say
what are you completely daft?

I hate to leave this behind
but inside I know he's right
It's just so hard to leave
such an awe-inspiring sight

I cannot believe the beauty
that lies in front of my eye..
dead planets tectonics once moving
leaving a vista of loveliness behind