O Marco Marciano

Through the speakers of the universe
I will praise you here in my ode
A work I did on another planet
Where ships float and discs fly
I made my mark on Martian soil
In a red desert without drizzle

This mark I made is a fortress
Raising Gibraltar to the square!
Tower, drawbridge, laser beam
And an internet system of radar
There is no probe or manned ship
That can descend or take off

I built my mark with the certainty
That no one, cybernetic or human
Could break through my defenses
Or find any flaw in my plan
They all stay on Phobos or Deimos
Contemplating my Martian mark

My mark has a human face
It has ruins of streets and cities
It has walls, pyramids, and remnants
Of cultures, demons, deities
The buried history of Mars
By the ephemeral dust of storms

I built my gigantic mark
On a plateau surrounded by mountains
Icy cliffs and cliffs
Projecting strange shapes in the air
Like the Cyclopean walls of Thebes
And the fatal mountain ranges of Spain

Right in the central square. A monument
Beautifies my Martian mark
A granite cut in enigma
By Vulcan's rough hammers
A sphinx in profile against the west
Immortal guardian of my mystery