Freezing planet of ice
Cold, so cold
An unremarkable planet in comparison
To Jupiter’s size
To Earth's life
To Saturn’s rings

Still, not entirely boring
Your days are longer than even Jupiters
Your size is bigger than Earth
Your blue beauty and small rings more delicate than Saturn

Blue, swirling, cold
That is what you are
So much bluer than the sky you were named for
Years so long almost all will not see a full one
Years so long the melody of you will sound different to every generation
As we all try to understand your nature
And all fail

So much dust orbits you
Rings of rock fly around your mass
Space dust, all collected
Into rings of dust and ice and rock

So many moons fly around your mass
Clinging to the orbit that keeps them from breaking up
Your size pales in comparison to the planet before you
But your visible rings make you unique

So as you float around the sun
Dragging ice and dust and rock with you
Spare a fleeting thought for those closer to the sun
Whose days are shorter
Whose years are shorter
Whose time is shorter
You will be here for much longer than all of us
So, when we are gone, spare a thought for us now and then
Please, Saturn, it is all I ask

Giant, awesome planet
Made of no rock, no water, just gas
Pulling everything in reach towards it
With so much force some end up crushed

We cannot go near you
For fear of being pulled into you and dying
Maybe you just want someone to talk to
Lonely planet in the sky

Humans are so fragile, aren’t they?
You can’t even let one get close to you without breaking them
Lonely planet, forever lonely, forever apart

Red planet up in the sky
Someone looked at you and thought of blood
That's how you gained this name

Why did they think of blood?
And not of apples, freshly picked
Or a rose, beautifully delicate
But even an apple has pips
And even a rose has thorns
So maybe, either way, your name would have held pain

Violence has haunted us for generations and generations
I guess, Mars, what you represent has become the only constant in human life
A terrible constant
But reliable nonetheless
Humans seek constants
Maybe that is why you were named Mars

Mother, mother you kept us safe
You nurtured us and helped us survive
You gave up yourself to help us
And watched as we destroyed all you gave

You would never see us hurt, mother
You still keep us safe even now
Even though you breathe through poisoned lungs
And your heart beats war cries

You still care for us
How is that so?
Can you teach us to care for you this way
And for each other?

Poison
You are flooded with poison
Some claim so is your namesake
The goddess of love

It is ironic, don’t you think?
That a planet we can never walk on
Without suits and equipment and protection
Is named after love
Venus, you don’t love us humans, do you?

And as the poison fills your air
I wonder, oh Venus, if you even know it hurts us
Maybe you just tried to create an environment that humans could live in
After all, we are not all that pretty ourselves

Oh warm planet, can you tell me?
What it feels like to be burning all the time
What it feels like to be closer to the big light in the sky than we will ever be
What it feels like

Oh small planet, do you like it?
The light must be so bright where you are
The heat so scorching
The days so short

Oh mercury, do you know why you were named?
After the god of messengers
And of thieves
What did you steal to earn that name, small planet?
What could you have possibly taken from us?

some days i feel that
despite the weight of legends
that behold our names
in the light of golden inkwells
and the pull of the tide
that had ****** us together
with the inevitability of a crashing wave
that we are not so much like
the sun and the moon
for the eclipse is a collision of epic proportions
for the eclipse is a parting of a thousand red seas
the eclipse, explosively desperate, and as rare as can be

no, i find myself
something much closer to earth
deep in the ground and deep in the dirt
for you meet me like a blue sky
meets the planet below
and you kiss me at the horizon line
all-enveloping, steady, constant, sweet
sometimes in the dancing hues
of some celestial body

but most days,
yes, most days
you are the photo in the locket
that my soul has always carried
and you are the peace
in always arriving home

though you may follow me to the ocean
and its raging waters,
to be held by you
is to be held by the shore