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video See a YouTube video of Janet Kuypers reading her poem “Phobos Fears his Future” (written for the 8/18/1877 discovery of Mars’ moon Phobos by Asaph Hall at the US Naval Observatory in Washington, D.C.), and her haiku “unsung” (written 8/19, on and for World Humanitarian Day), read from the Janet Kuypers poetry book “Every Event of the Year (Volume Two: July-December)” on 7/23/20 during the Virtual Austin Poetry Society New World Poetry open mic (filmed from a Panasonic Lumix 2500 camera; posted on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram and Tumblr).
video See a Facebook live video stream of Janet Kuypers reading her poem “Phobos Fears his Future” (written for the 8/18/1877 discovery of Mars’ moon Phobos by Asaph Hall at the US Naval Observatory in Washington, D.C.), and her haiku “unsung” (written 8/19, on and for World Humanitarian Day), read from the Janet Kuypers poetry book “Every Event of the Year (Volume Two: July-December)” on 7/23/20 during the Virtual Austin Poetry Society New World Poetry open mic (this video was filmed Samsung S9 camera).
video Enjoy this YouTube video of Janet Kuypers reading her Down in the Dirt 1-4/24 “The Limits of Language” & “Every Event of the Year (Volume Two: July-December)” book poems “Jupiter Revealing Neptune” & “Phobos Fears his Future” (as the second poem was edited into “Phobos Fears the Dread Deimos Knows” for video inclusion in the Summer 2024 release of the CyberWit.net Janet Kuypers poetry book “The Universe is in Your Hands”) during her “Poetic License 6/2/24 global open mic” through a Zoom meeting and a Facebook event page (this video was filmed from a Panasonic Lumix 2500 camera; posted on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Pinterest, Instagram, and Tumblr).
Also enjoy this as a Facebook live video stream that was filmed & streamed live from a Samsung S9 camera and given a Starburst filter; posted on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Instagram, and Tumblr. #janetkuyperspoetry #janetkuypersbookreading #janetkuypers #janetkuyperstheuniverseisinyourhands #janetkuyperspoeticlicense

Phobos Fears his Future

Janet Kuypers
7/23/20 (for the 8/18/1877 discovery of Mars’ moon Phobos
by Asaph Hall at the US Naval Observatory in Washington, D.C.)

Turbulent, tumultuous relationships arise
when more delicate beings are pulled in...

One small little creature, wandering, lost,
was caught by the Roman red giant Mars,

also known as Ares, the Greek god of war.
The only way a delicate creature like this

could survive Mars is to also be the son of
Aphrodite, Venus, though this would still

lead him only to personify fear. What choice
did he have, too light for gravity to make

him spherical, now porous & heavily cratered.
Covered in a meter of dust from meteor

bombardment, Phobos’ only choice
was to spin so close to Mars’ equator —

in a perfect circle — closer than any other
known orbit, completing an orbit in only

seven hours and thirty-nine minutes,
below the synchronous orbit radius,

rising in the west and setting in the east
in this Martian sky within only four hours.

Phobos may know that Ares, I mean, Mars,
may do him in when that orbit pulls him in,

but he can’t break free to Aphrodite —
and this poor trapped child refuses to shine,*

whose sunlit side rivals a pleasant
Chicago winter day, though only a few

kilometers away, on the dark side, it’s
more harsh than a night in Antarctica.

Of course this little gem knows its fate,
knows it’s doomed, spinning so close

it his mortal enemy, wondering if his evil
king will suck him in to crash into Mars,

or if he’ll break apart first, finally forming
a dust ring that may rival gas giant rings.

Of course he fears his future, but this
destiny may be greater than you moons

can imagine, so... keep spinning, knowing
that a part of Phobos comes from war,

but the other part, the part that no one
cares to remember, is only made from love.

 

* Phobos is one of the least reflective bodies in the Solar System


Copyright © Janet Kuypers.

All rights reserved. No material
may be reprinted without express permission.



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