To understand him
you have to go back
to those cheap paperbacks
with lurid covers
we devoured
so many years ago
in the Golden Age
of Science Fiction.
Not SciFi,
(cowboys in spacesuits
riding the cosmic range)
but SF.
Azimov
Clarke
Kornbluth
Speculative Fiction
What if…
And so often
behind the lurid cover
and on those pulpy pages
there would be
a young guy
smarter than anyone
dreaming
of stars
and machines
and vast enterprises.
And of course no one
understood him
but that didn’t stop him
he did it anyway
tearing through
rules and regs
customs and laws
current science
personal relationships
anything, really
in his way.
Bound by no convention
no precedent
twisting reality
to his needs
and of course
needing tons of money
for his rockets
and so
making tons of money
because he’s smarter
than anyone.
But the creaking
moribund
apparatus of government
can’t accommodate him
so he looks around
and finds
someone
driven by a need
as unbridled as his own.
And together
they dismantle
anything
everything
standing in
their way
and reach
the stars.
Elon!
Turn out the light!
Time to go to sleep!
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