Langstone Rock

“It’s cold up here, and rather red,”
Sighed Spirit. “I feel faint.”
Good Opportunity then said,
“Crawl on, without complaint!

Langstone Rock, Dawlish, Devon, EX6

“This planet needs our shovels’ bite
And treadmarks in the dust
To tell if life and hematite
Pervade its arid crust.”

Langstone Rock, Dawlish, Devon, EX6

“There’s life, by all the stars above,
On Mars—it’s you and I!”
Blithe Spirit cried. “Let’s rove, my love,
And meet before we die!”

Langstone Rock, Dawlish, Devon, EX6

From John Updike’s Duet on Mars (2004)

His Iron Ears Turned

Taller than a house, the Iron Man stood at the top of the cliff, on the very brink, in the darkness. The wind sang through his iron fingers. His great iron head, shaped like a dustbin but as big as a bedroom, slowly turned to the right, slowly turned to the left.

Herzog & de Meuron’s Allianz Arena, Werner-Heisenberg-Allee 25, Munich, Germany

His iron ears turned, this way, that way. He was hearing the sea. His eyes, like headlamps, glowed white, then red, then infrared, searching the sea. Never before had the Iron Man seen the sea. He swayed in the strong wind that pressed against his back. He swayed forward, on the brink of the high cliff.

From Ted Hughes’ The Iron Man (1968)

Toerag Studios (2003)

When people call this beast to mind…

The White Stripes' Elephant, Toerag Studios, Glyn Road, Hackney, E5

…They marvel more and more…

The White Stripes' Elephant, Toerag Studios, Glyn Road, Hackney, E5

…At such a little tail behind, So large a trunk before.

From Hilaire Belloc’s The Elephant (1896)