NaPoWriMo #4

Interstellar Shanty

NASA pressurised an ink pen – spent a pennny
Russians risked graphite – mocked the moneyed
Soviet pencils are Sputnik’s armoury
logic translates compensate in Klingon

We’ll float, float on,
‘til we find a teapot orbiting the sun.

There are many questions
many more answers,
how d’you photograph a gas giant,
And what does Venus’ arse look like?

But we’ll float, float on,
‘til we find the teapot orbiting the sun.

Dawkins found God in a nebula, – wrote a book on it
Galileo used a jam jar to stare into the thick of it
Cox is a Blue Peter presenter – outposts and audits
Sir Patrick Moore – stargazer to the stars.

We’re floating, floating on;
a teapot silhouette in front of the sun.

Today’s poem was the end product of yesterday’s NaPoWriMo prompt ‘Sea Shanty’ but with a twist.

Here are links to Bertrand Russell’s Celestial Teapot Wiki and the Space Pen conundrum.

Also an amendment: I think Brian Cox is awesome.

Thanks go to a particular Amos (Not for much longer – big clue), for the pen anecdote.

In a strange twist of fate I have a picture of ‘Jupiter’s Bottom’ in my documents. Now there is a quality consciousness-enricher.

Fionn Coughlan-Wills.