whoa be tide
when the frictional coefficient of the atmosphere
efficiently stops rotation

but no worries
we’ll be crispy critters long before that
when the sun gets its red-giant midriff bulge

erstwhile beyond jupiter
our whiplashed space probe sent us saturn’s hexagonal miracle
giving us a ringside seat

now we claim
residency on and of a comet
maybe interstellar isn’t all that farly fetched

*****

Notes:

The title derives from rearrangement of “Snidely Whiplash,” archenemy of Dudley Do-Right of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, and “Timely Tidings.” Yesterday’s poetry prompt invited use of either “timely” or “timeless.”

The atmosphere is indeed slowing down Earth’s rotation, and the sun will indeed bulge during its transition to red-giantism, eventually achieving a radius in excess of the orbit of Earth. I owe my knowledge of these two things to having read Larry Niven’s A WORLD OUT OF TIME some thirty-odd years ago.

The trajectories of space probes often use planet gravity for a “slingshot” effect, which I trust is relatable to “whiplash.” I owe my knowledge of this to having read Arthur Clarke’s 2001: A Space Odyssey some forty-odd years ago.

On Saturn, storm activity unimpeded by landscape has resulted in a perfect hexagon at at least one of its poles. Spectacular photography is available courtesy of the Cassini probe.

We, the citizens of planet Earth, have just landed on Comet Rosetta. Read all about it here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/…/the-rosetta-comet…/ Meanwhile, the movie INTERSTELLAR is playing at local theaters.