Mar's Uncanny Valles

The uncanny valley: originally a robotics concept stating that as a figure or object becomes more familiar and humanlike our affinity for it increases, until it is too close and we switch to discomfort.

 

When we aim our telescopes at Mars

sometimes we hear, 

"Oh, it's just that little dot?"

Yes. This shining pinpoint

dirty brown between smudgy grey ice caps

is supposed to be the god of war,

be familiar and habitable

and start a war between worlds - 

our first possible extraterrestrial residence.

Didn't you see your new neighborhood?

Down low in the valles and basins

up high in the volcanic extremes?

Can you not picture

your new house among oxidized red:

 

Where we will be almost-home on almost-Earth,

but you'll be one third of your heavy self

(until you pull the protective gear off)

and half as old as you were

(until we rethink it all).

You'll certainly feel the chill

(don't go out at night)

as you try to pretend it's just winter

and these new habits are familiar. Earthly.

 

What you do not see 

is that Mars holds all the times we will fail

we will lose, and break

because we dared to reach past Earth.

But there is also the one time we might succeed

Out of desperation

resistance

and marvel

living uncanny lives.