Self, to Scale

on martian crust

Valles Marineris is not one canyon
but a system,
which already makes
this metaphor less convenient.

Regardless, let’s continue.

It’s nearly 4,000 kilometers long
and up to ten deep,
long enough—NASA notes—
to stretch from California to New York,

as if I’ve ever stood in California
and looked toward New York

thinking

yes, I understand distance now.

Place your body at the bottom
of a canyon—and you’ll see—
at the bottom of a canyon,
the scale is such the self

becomes a minor concern—

which sounds nice—really—

the mind, attempting to make sense,
gives up quietly;
becomes, for once,
unnecessary.

And so I go
to the bottom of a canyon
on Tuesdays,
or the middle of the night
on a Sunday,
to be
exactly that.

© P. Ryan

Global mosaic of 102 Viking 1 Orbiter images of Mars taken on orbit 1,334, 22 February 1980. Source: NASA

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Looking for a prompt? Visit NASA’s website and find an image that interests you. Write a poem about where it takes you. Then, share it in the comments!