the full family photo

 

as the 21st century was nearing its showy arrival voyager1

was near departing the solar winds of our shared planetary system

after years of relaying informing information on

close celestial neighbours her well-used cameras were

reprogrammed to turn and take the first full family photos

of our newly discoverable solar system in a memorable final farewell

before fading further out into a far less charted existence

where consciously conceivably perhaps in a far out future opportune time

some far off intelligent alien life form may decipher with interest

the human road maps outlined on the openly thought through

global plaques purposefully placed pre earth launching

amid voyager's well-shielded well-travelled protective hides

her final photos beamed on home revealed our sun as

a reasonably bright star with the gas planet giants saturn and jupiter

distinctly close by a little on out than venus and earth

who faintly glimmered like close infant twin sisters

somewhat outwardly identical from this pictured distance

any intelligent extraterrestrials existing on out beyond our solar winds

may well value voyager's diverse human roadmaps

to ever comprehend we exist or existed at all

when seemingly it seems we're rather infinitesimal

even when viewed from our own shared heliopause

snapped as voyager exited those frontiers of emptiness

signalling back those final photographic farewells

showing how technologically unique we now are evolving

though heavenly insignificant as a divided human race

on our rather small bluish nature blessed ecologically fragile

spaceship earth

 

Daniel Howe 1999.