What do our colonists eat on Venus?
Well-baked and roasted things,
Since heat is not a problem;
And mushrooms
Since light is;
And they eschew oysters
For everything grown on Venus
Is already, by definition,
Aphrodisiac.
Despite a need for
Antiscorbutics
Folks there resist
Lemonade, orange juice, catsup,
Indeed anything acid --
That vitriolic atmosphere
Just outside the ever-eroding walls
Being too much
On their minds.
Copyright © 2000 Timons Esaias
Tim's stories have appeared in nine languages and twelve countries. A finalist for the 1999 British Science Fiction Award, he has found a niche in SF poetry with nine sales to Asimov's, over three dozen other sales, and four nominations for the Rhysling Award (Third place, 1997). His poems can be found in Sherwood (ed. by Jane Yolen), The Age of Reason (ed. by Kurt Roth), and 2001: A Science Fiction Poetry Anthology (ed. by Keith Allen Daniels).