Norville, the Space Cabbage

Astronauts, Cosmonauts, are all in the race
To be the ones blasted furthest in space.
Monkeys and dogs were once both employed
To escape from the earth and into the void.
Out into orbit, and then to the moon!
Humans on Mars! - It’ll happen quite soon!
But don’t get excited, for it’s time now to share
The news that there’s others, already there!

For Norville the Cabbage, a few years ago
Built his own rocket – and not just for show.
Made out of scrap from bikes and old cars
It got him from Earth, and out on to Mars!
Launched from the garden, one dark, moonless night,
It rose from the ground in a smooth upward flight.
Spaceward and onward, like a small, twinkling star,
Norville and rocket, voyaging so far.

With room for one cabbage, and a packet of seeds,
And a nice bed of soil to meet all his needs,
Norville relaxed, secure in his place,
Comfy and cosy, speeding through space,
Until he looked out, and suddenly found
His spaceship was slowing, approaching the ground!
With careful manoeuvres, the way he’d been trained,
He bought the craft down on the Martian terrain.
He gave the ‘stop’ button a small but firm thump
As the spacecraft hit ground with a soft, little bump.

He opened the hatch and ventured outside
His crinkly green leaves all puffed up with pride.
“A small step for cabbages, that may be so,
But from small beginnings, then mighty things grow!”
Then, off to do tests: “Yes, water - there’s some,
The weather’s not bad, there’s warmth from the sun.
Soil’s pretty good, it’s got what we need
To grow a big cabbage from each little seed!”


He made himself busy, digging and sowing,
Within a few weeks, young seedlings were growing.
And within a few seasons, cabbages had spread
And the fabled red planet was no longer red.
For all those with eyes, it’s plain to be seen
That the surface of Mars is a patchwork of green!
Now a cabbage contingent, with no wish to roam,
Is happy and thriving, with Mars as its home.
And those in the future that touchdown will curse
To find out that cabbages settled there first!