This trilogy looks at different aspects of Earth and society as viewed from outer space, and was presented at 'Geopetry 2020', an event held on National Poetry Day and hosted by the Geological Society, the Scottish Poetry Library and the Edinburgh Geological Society. Selected poems and essays from this event are now published in the book Earth Lines Earth Lines: Geopoetry and Geopoetics - Edinburgh Geological Society (edinburghgeolsoc.org) Just to remind you, satellites are essential to modern society - there are currently 2000 active satellites orbiting the Earth, out of a total of 8,900 that have been launched since the first (Sputnik, in 1957). The first poem is inspired by Yuri Gagarin, the first astronaut in space, while the second is a reflection on climate change and other human impacts on our world, partly inspired by a more recent hero, Greta Thunberg. The third poem 'The Bubble' makes use of a physio-chemical analogy to explain the fragility of our civilization, originally inspired by the rise and fall of Greek civilization, hence the link to the Parthenon. See the video version of this poem at https://vimeo.com/534931379   As an end piece, and reflecting on famous poems inspired by Earth's original satellite, I have included the well-known poem "Under the Harvest Moon" by Carl Sandburg (1878-1967).
Noctilucent clouds in the upper atmosphere (NASA) The First Alien In preparing for arrival on planet Earth the first alien skimmed the top of the atmosphere  (at an altitude of 170 km) and prepared for rotation and entry. The autopilot aligned the spacecraft for retro-burn  but unfortunately the support module failed to separate  from the craft – a spherical capsule about two metres wide. After a series of rapid gyrations  the two modules eventually separated over north Africa and the correct Earth-entry alignment was achieved. Descending into the Earth’s ever thickening atmosphere  caused the craft to decelerate with force of about 8 G;  but somehow the occupant managed to remain conscious. Then, at about 7000 metres from the Earth’s surface  the hatch of the spacecraft was released and the creature ejected, deploying a parachute. About ten minutes later the alien landed,  at 11.05 hours, at a point about 26 km south west of Engels (a town in the Saratov region of the Volga district of Russia). The first people to meet this visitor from outer space  were a farmer and his daughter, and not surprisingly,  they were rather astonished and somewhat alarmed. The girl exclaimed: Can it be that you have come from outer space? to which the alien replied: V samom dele, u menya yest!  (which calmed the girl as she also understood Russian). He went on to explain that he had indeed travelled  from outer space and needed to find a telephone  to call Moscow.
Offshore Newfoundland   Using wi-fi in the sky, a twinkle in my eye sparkles with amazement and joy as I watch Greta's latest video diary broadcast from her yacht while sailing in a gale offshore Newfoundland. I was texting my bro' and my daughter about her show (also sparkling with amazement and joy) and making plans for the weekend and the days ahead broadcasting from an airliner cruising at altitude offshore Beachy head. Not many of us appreciate that we third-millennial apes depend so heavily on 2000 orbiting satellites sparkling in the sky, sending and receiving positions, coded trains of data, and sensing the Earth from geostationary orbits. I tell my students and other reluctant astronauts (sparkling with amazement and joy) that modern human civilization would not be possible without space technology - especially the GPS sats spinning in medium Earth orbits. And yet these orbiting jewels are the bearers of bad news (sparkling with doom and gloom) - we are rapidly destroying our habitat burning forests and fuels, contaminating and destroying the Earth's biosphere, atmosphere, hydrosphere and geosphere. All eyes are on their devices all eyes are saying ‘look at me' bringing a little sparkle, amazement and joy to the here and now. But our future depends on using our eyes in the sky, saying ‘looking at you' since these could bring sparkle, amazement and joy back to the future. You know the saying ‘the ayes have it' well, indeed they do. It is more a question of which eyes will have it - the eyes on the ground or the eyes up there? Wi-fi or eye-fi?   The Bubble Civilization is a thin, fragile membrane: one molecule thick, spreading infinitely, yet contained like a bubble with multiple curves and topological twists, refracting the light into myriads of colours, a birefringent, prismatic shimmer, watchable forever. The flaws, knots and twists are healed by chemical spreading, remarkably, in spite of, and because of, the tension. Complexity, elasticity and the unfathomable bonds of history provide its flexibility, whilst the growth of homogeneous mono-molecularity brings new and dangerous fragility. Sustain and enjoy human and cultural diversity in Africa, Asia, Europe, Australasia, the Americas and islands of the seas. Resist all the disjoining pressures, for the spread of uniformity only makes the bubble more likely to pop.
Under the Harvest Moon Carl Sandburg - 1878-1967   Under the harvest moon, When the soft silver Drips shimmering Over the garden nights, Death, the gray mocker, Comes and whispers to you As a beautiful friend Who remembers.   Under the summer roses When the flagrant crimson Lurks in the dusk Of the wild red leaves, Love, with little hands, Comes and touches you With a thousand memories, And asks you Beautiful, unanswerable questions. Moon over the Parthenon