Terra Nova

With the promise
of a brighter tomorrow,
I enter the airlock
knowing the only exit
does not take me back,
only forward. I open it
to see a wondrous vista
before me and realize I leave
behind the technologies
that deny Terra the expression
of her true self.

I step through and accept
this gift without regret,
for who could deny
this unspoiled beauty
is worth more than all
I leave behind. Forward
lies the future mankind
once thought out of reach.

This poem is my response to the prompt for Day 12 at napowrimo.net, which challenges us to “write a poem using at least one word/concept/idea from each of two specific dictionaries: Lempriere’s Classical Dictionary and the Historical Dictionary of Science Fiction.” As soon as I saw airlock, I knew I would use that. I then went to the Classical Dictionary, looking for Gaia, but found only Terra, her Roman equivalent. My poem grew from there.

~ Day 12 ~

Image source: Wikipedia (edited here)