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Jenn Gardner Aug 2011
human,
not quite human.

like us,
they are forever frozen in eliptical orbit
of the sphere where hell hath risen.

look up,
they view tiny totems of prospective intelligences.
hoping to death that the intelligent aren’t indifferent.

look down,
green vegetation overwhelms otherwise barren land,
which they possess no desire to cover with modern monoliths.

look within,
technicolour images are held amid each and every not quite mortal brain.
for on gliese 581 it is customary to accept marbles as eyes and the sun as a soul.

the only thing they ****
is the darkness that defines the earthling psyche.

“does this make them human?”

what is human?
Ithaca Oct 2021
I still think about you often.
You are 40 light years away, but you remain as close to my heart as ever.

And I keep my distance.
Your vast oceans are beautiful yet terrifying.
Daring to sail would be to drown in turn.
Daring to breathe would doom my heart to burn.

You're incredible, and I have so much more to learn.

— The End —