The Fool Says In His Heart

Once again they talk about going to Mars
maybe even having some folks settle down there.
And Mars might be nice I guess
but you ain't ever going outside to breath the air
or tend your garden - or watch the seasons change.

The poles are 240 below
the equator in summer is plus 68 (dipping to minus 100 at night)
there are no lakes or streams or puddles to splash in.
So, if you must brave the elements
why not colonize Antarctica - it would save us bundles.

Ah, but Mars might have water
and from that water microbes
and from those microbes bigger obes
just like what happened on Earth
or so they say.

There is a dirty little secret your teacher forgot to tell you
because really, they knew you would never think it through.
Life did not begin by a lucky combination of elements
in the vast oceans of Earth or Mars
on one fine day, long, long ago.

Even the smallest dot in the biggest ocean
on the grandest stage in the heart of the universe
in order to live and to love and to carry on
to reserve it's spot in the miraculous galley
must have a fine tuned script to sing it's song.

That first dot needed bits and bits
millions and millions of organized bits
layer upon layer of glorious bits
each part necessary to support the other
there must be some reason for sister and brother.

That's not religion, that's science.
You cannot get life from doing the right chemistry
we've tried, we've failed, we've given up trying.
We've never observed spontaneous life in nature
we've looked, we've waited - but there's always Mars.