“They’ll never ever reach the moon,
Leonard Cohen, “Sing Another Song, Boys,” 1970
at least not the one we’re after.”
If we think of planets as globes of fruit, like an apple, orange, lemon, we might see them growing ripe, falling, turning bitter. If we see ourselves as fruit flies, we might caption a big lemon a planet in our sky.
The first planet outside Earth humans visit will probably be Mars. But will there be free parking?
We know there is life in the universe, because Earth is full of life, and it’s in the universe. But are there places in the universe where the sun god on a freezing cold day invites you up for a cup of hot chocolate or herbal tea?
On Earth, nature seems to overseed, replenishing by adding more and at the same time sowing excessively, creating overdensities. Think of pollens on a spring day, the fine flour that sprinkles and saturates and has everyone sneezing to beat the band. On Earth, life is abundant and various, mighty and powerful, strong.
When you look up at night, into the sky, what do you see?
When in the news new worlds are discovered and photographs published, we see tiny dots astronomers claim are actually galaxies thousands and thousands and thousands of light years wide. The point is to find (the scientist like a garden snail crossing the Sahara) another planet where life grows and people enjoy backyards during summer months.
Meantime, back on Earth, we’re still trying to find that place where the moon stands still, on Blueberry Hill. That’s life.
The Coming of the Toads 