082219d

skating on thin ice
colony
at the lunar pole

081419c

the coolest pad
this side of Pluto
Mercury's icy pole

062519

concentration camps
children moved from bare cages
in secret
men with ICEy hearts
in 2019 America

121718c

13,000 Lost Souls

Torn from their parents
imprisoned by a tyrant
do they ever see the sun?
feel a kind touch?

days turn to months
and where is their Christmas coming from?

111618

the stepping stones
are hydrogen oxide
hot feet plunge through

051518d

on this ice world
we found an underground sea
inky, cold, and deep
at first
we thought it void of life

122617

elves slink back to their dens

the darkened workshop
home to ice roaches

when the ice cap breaks
they'll be out of luck
for 100,000 years

122117c

on Enceladus

"rocks" of frozen methane
slide on the underside of its ocean's icy lid

slow currents
mimic the effect of wind
on terrestrial deserts

102517

Mr. Megabux' Penguin Party

They called it a penguin party, although there was only one. It was quite large, it's true, but it was robotic, so was there any penguin at all, really? Then the iceberg rocked, and the silly thing slipped right off. Turned out it couldn't swim worth a darn. Wonder if that was covered by insurance. Still there on the bottom, or in it; no one felt it was worth salvaging. Critters enjoyed crawling on it and gluing their shells to it, I suppose, until the slide of '26 buried it too deep. Cold enough the nuclear-powered "brain" probably still works. Imagine it! All these years lying in the mud, nothing ... to ... do.... If an AI can go insane, that one has! If someone ever does retrieve it, and installs it in a functioning device, well, I'd like to see that. From a safe distance. Like at the controls of a drone.

010817b

a teensey day
may break 20F
70s b4 week's end
that's Bama 4 u

010717

So it actually did precipitate in Tuscaloosa last night. We had an accumulation of about 1 inch of snow, with a little ice at the bottom. Needless to say, civilization teetered on the brink in this part of the world.

As soon as the sun hit the roof this morning, even though it was actually still below freezing, water started cascading off, along with large chunks of softening snow.

There is still snow out there now, and as the sun sets behind the trees, things are stiffening up.

On another subject, Rhysling nominations started to come in. I am seeing some great poems that will be in the anthology this year. If you are a member of the SFPA, and you have not yet nominated any poems, please do. You have about five weeks

062416c

melting footholds
in Plutonian hills
cool breeze blowing