He thinks the complexities
of climate change
too gnarly to
change course
he’s set his sights
on settling another planet
spaffing mega bucks
to fire off rockets
some of which increased
his wealth – seeding satellites
in an unholy net across
the heavens
a net, he says, to give others
the power to learn
– the dream of making
it to the top like him
the power to aim weapons
but his finger is always
the one on the kill switch
if your aims don’t match his…
the power to fly uber-rich
to admire the blighted
but still beautiful Earth from
brief sub-orbital sojourns
he thinks himself above
the hoi polloi
spends his millions
to bend their votes
will his legacy be any more
than Ozymandias
half buried in the
desert sands of Mars?
© Andrew Wilson, 2026
Over at dVerse Poets Pub, lillian is hosting Live, OpenLinkNight, when we can post a poem of our choice – I wrote this for Akua Lezli hope’s Mini Speculative Poetry Book challenge…
I don’t know that he’ll have one. Let him go to Mars.
Why not – good riddance!
Ah….me thinks this fits Mr. Musk quite well…..the audacity of the billionaires who simply want more. More power. More money. Egos so large they can not see for the good.
“but his finger is always
the one on the kill switch
if your aims don’t match his…”
How does one like this ever learn to define “enough”.
And that last stanza? Powerful!
Thanks, Lillian – I was thinking of the current debacle over slowing Starlink down – now the Canadians are going to build their own system and if Musk loses government contracts, which sooner or later he must, then he will be in trouble…
He is the source of evil, and yet a mere pastiche of a mere Bond villain, whose past is marked by some very unpleasant stuff.
Wonderfully sharp takedown, that he should read.
Thanks, Ain, anybody who grew up in the still layered society of South Africa might have their sensibilities warped and might follow the path of Musk…
If only he was Mars-bound – and took the orange madman with him! Some great phrases, Andrew, such as ‘seeding satellites in an unholy net across the heavens’ and ‘his finger is always the one on the kill switch if your aims don’t match his’. And I love the allusion to Ozymandias!
Yes indeed, Kim, exile them to the red planet! What they are doing to Ukraine is disgraceful…
I don’t think even Mars is going to take him 😝 haha this is stellar writing, Andrew! I especially resonate with; “he thinks himself above the hoi polloi spends his millions to bend their votes.”
Thanks, Sanaa, if you’re going to take someone down, you need to do a proper job…
Well done Andrew! I had to look up Ozymandias…which could be said for all of us in the end. Good work, appreciate ya. 🌕
Thanks, Cara! No English child gets away without studying that poem at some point, lol…