Once water on Mars pooled over dust,

oceans of blue, and that water was real,

more real than I.

I am only an instant,

merely made to take up time and then

to disappear. But I can point at Mars,

run my fingers through the arching stars

and find the small red dot just above

our horizon. I can show you that far-off dot

and explain how "Once there were rivers

in that part of the sky."

If you bring me a photo of the red planet

I will trace out for you

the paths those rivers took

and where they met, great unrecorded seas.

I am envious of the water that was on Mars,

because people cannot forget that long-ago sea,

but it is doubtful if they will remember me.

My fruitless wish is that years from now

someone will trace over the sky and land

on our blue earth. I hope they study

our planet for a time before pointing

and saying, "There, right there, was once a girl

with red hair who coveted the immortality

of another world's water."