by Julia Griffin

“A Mars rover just saw Earth dance with a Martian moon—then disappear behind it.”
—BBC Sky at Night Magazine

A little spying rover
“Was just chancing” to look over
At a dark and private corner of the sky,
When it heard (“I never listened!”)
Something sung which, though it isn’t
Fully polished, has gone viral up on high.
It’s the love song of a planet,
And it’s much too late to ban it
So we might as well enjoy it, on the sly.

I believe I’m struck by moonlight!
You have caught me in a swoonlight,
I’m in retrograde, but yearning to advance:
Will you tango with me, Phobos,
To a tune by Villa-Lobos?
Shall we boogie to Boötes? Shall we dance?

Every forest, each sierra,
All that makes me Wholly Terra
Is a-quake; Peru’s colliding into France:
Your effect on me is tidal—
I can feel my tropics sidle:
Shall we do the Astral Spiral? Shall we dance?

I have never seen such luster
In the Virgo Supercluster,
I’ve no earthly, but I have to take my chance:
Though I know you’re Mars’s satellite,
You’ve set my thermostat alight:
So how about it, Rockstar—shall we dance?