By: Beau Beausoleil

---

The wind on
Mars sounds
much like
the wind
on some
stretches of
Highway 1
where you
pull over
under the
darkening
clouds
to examine
your
wipers
or stretch
your legs
as you drive
back
from
L.A. 

And the
landscape
on Mars
is much
like the
landscape
near Pigeon
Point
Lighthouse

minus the
birds
farms
highway
ocean
houses
cars
trees
animals
and
people

But the
cameras
on the
Mars
rover
are there
to look for
any
buried
signs
of life

Maybe
a three
billion
year old
rusted
highway
sign

Last
Chance
Gas
Food
Lodging
Next Exit

And the
first drops
of rain
hitting the
windshield
always come
as a surprise

---

Beau Beausoleil is a poet and activist based in San Francisco, California. His most recent chapbook of poetry is I Meet The Muse On Her Term (Intermittent Press – 2020).