NASA’s workshop at Mandalay
The conference- near a beach.
For lightweight spacecraft, that will one day
Bring the stars within our reach.

Here, time and space are spanned with thought,
Minds alone must voyage- until.
But bathroom intervals are surely not
And in my case never will.

Evening drinks, talk of interstellar flight,
Cobweb entangled thoughts and mirth,
Then- as I walk alone at night,
My mind returns again to Earth.

Two rocks I spot, out on the beach,
Waiting patiently in the sand
‘Till I bend down and pick one each
Glinting starlight, guides my hand.

Surely Earth and tide have rocks to spare.
Space and time will have to wait,
The stones I choose, go home by air
To a better- desktop fate.