Red Planet Rescue

Leaf 355 – Art Inspired

 

When I was very young I used to enjoy watching old, classic science fiction movies on television. It was all part and parcel with my early abiding fascination for astronomy and human space exploration, both of which have remained undiminished with me to the present day, serendipitously furnishing me with plenty of material for many haiku, as a fair number of the leaves already posted here on ‘Shinobazu Pond’ will clearly attest. But it wasn’t until I began posting my haiku on Bluesky that I discovered there was a distinct sub-genre of this kind of writing in contemporary English haiku – aptly and affectionately known as ‘Sci-Fi-ku.’ So in an attempt to emulate the seasoned experts piloting this fast, flourishing satellite orbiting the haiku home planet, I thought I would try to pen a poem or two about one of my most favourite sci-fi movies, ‘Robinson Crusoe on Mars’ (1964). Very quickly it expanded into the following linked verse renku.

 

 

MAROONED ON MARS

 

Monkey business

amid the wreckage,

salvaging smarts.

 

Boiling rocks to breathe

underground beneath

wandering fires.

 

A mind foggy with

phosphorus and sulphur –

Robinson Crusoe on Mars:

 

Breaking bonds to

rescue what’s left

of one’s humanity.

 

Solar horizons

expanding with

each orbit.

 

Electron bolts,

blasting red

scorched rock.

 

Stranded

beneath the stars,

encircling an inner sun.

 

Radio waves crackle,

returning

distant voices.

 

Escaping the thin

air of Mars –

Earthlight dawns anew.

 

Crusoe, Mona and Friday –

each taking their turn

at finding a rescue.

Photo Credits: IMDb & Retrozap