The ship exploded out of its chassis
burst through the heavens
and ruptured the atmosphere around it
heading to parts unknown
– into the skies
heading for adventure.

We were looking for new worlds to conquer
my crew and I.
We were planning to explore the universe
and discover new things to exploit.
We were taking our pluck and ingenuity
and any spare parts we could find
into galaxies far away.
We’d be gone a long time.
We had our mission to fulfill.

The space around us
changed color.
The air within us
changed texture.
The smells around us
were basically the same
but sound
stopped
as the entire crew
all nine of us
stood looking out
astonished at the worlds we were seeing
and the world we were not.
Words failed
and we lost our tongues
and there was nothing to hear
as the rest of our senses
were barraged with the exotic.

We were afraid of what we would find
We were excited about what we could see.
We were surprised to learn what we’d have to do.
We were were prepared for adventures aplenty
but not their absence
so
after too long searching for things to take
hunting for others to despoil
we turned around
deterred
until we returned
interned on our own earth.

We were alone.
We found nothing.
We came.
We saw.
We went full circle
tail firmly betwixt legs
don’t you concur?