[Martin Elster]

Doomed Planets

The surface of Venus is hot enough
to melt lead. And I know I have not enough
cojones to visit that world
where perhaps giant ferns had unfurled
long ago in its youth in the spring
when tree frogs assembled to sing,
birds winging across the pure air ...
In the cosmos, it’s not all that rare
for a planet to turn into hell,
becoming extremely unwell
before it is barely a baby.
Can we save our own world? Maybe. Maybe.