[meteorite-list] Pluto a Planet: A POem

From: Francis Graham <francisgraham_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 10:32:50 2004
Message-ID: <20040317032802.6117.qmail_at_web40112.mail.yahoo.com>

 I am really asking for it, but here goes:

PLUTO TO EARTH

"Have you heard the news from Earth?"
Asked the Plutonians (For all it's worth
Although they were used to the cryogenic
A little heat was loved; and made them phrenetic
Increasing their thoughts; yea, near perihelion
Their best of sages could count to a billion.)
"The scoundrels on that blue dot near the Sun
Count eight planets now, and we're not one!"
Another Plutonian retorted, "It must be the glare,
Of the Sun that maddens them. It's not fair!
To pronounce this judgement is mere sophistry
When I doubt they even know our geography."
"And what of our atmosphere, whose pressure is felt,
Is that like an asteroid of the Kuiper Belt?"
"And our moon," said another,"Who's tidally locked;
If we're not a planet, why’s not Mercury defrocked?"
"In lieu of this," cried another, "Let the planets
begin
With Jupiter; and those rocks further in
Are the Sun's satellites; to be pedantic
The Earth's a double moon--how's that for semantic!?"
Yet one more Plutonian, of a psychological bent
Said, "Consider where Earth's spacecraft were sent.
To all orbs but ours. But in their spacefaring nations
The rulers defunded planetary explorations.
So like Aesop's fable, 'The Grapes and the Fox'
What man cannot conquer, he demotes and mocks!"
And so the wise subzero Plutonians agreed
Their lower status was from a cold human need
To conquer all; failing that, what is left
Is from what is worthy to conquer cleft.
No doubt if Pluto had an American probe
Visiting; each Congressional ear lobe
Would be told the expensive spacecraft hurled
To a major planet, not some trivial world.
Said one more Plutonian, twice as cynical,
"Thus even planetology has gotten political."

Francis
















__________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Mail - More reliable, more storage, less spam
http://mail.yahoo.com
Received on Tue 16 Mar 2004 10:28:02 PM PST