Rocket Women

they rode in with the men at dawn,
straddling the landing gears.
they kissed good luck charms onto hammers
and stroked their rocket boys’ hair.

off ran the rocket men
to purge the dust planet of strange.
thighs pressed together,
the women grinned behind the rocket windows,
and gave birth to a world of their own.

lush green &
marked by purple rivers &
utopian towers—
the city bustles in peace.

free of their taxi drivers,
the rocket women lived forever.

lifetimes later,
on the other side of the planet,
people whisper rumors
of the last city of the martians


—Kayla Reifel