The Waters of Europa

Far below a sheet of ice a kilometer thick,
on a moon of Jupiter long thought to lack life’s kick,
life, indeed, swims in the cold abyss of varied size,
and because there is no light, there is no need for eyes.

O waters of Europa, deliver your intrigue!
Many miles to the bottom, give or take a league.
A great ocean on a Galilean satellite,
but unlike the ones on Earth, there’s not one ray of light.

Those of us on Titan wondered long about the worth;
and we knew that there was also interest on the Earth.
We managed to get into space somewhat quicker, though,
but we kept tabs on the Earthlings with our radio.

Water, water on Europa, give us need for pause!
When Galileo looked your way, there were some hurrahs.
Ganymede along with Io, and Callisto too,
the first four moons of Jupiter that came into view.

First we sent an unmanned probe as a boring device;
then our mini submarine slipped down below the ice.
Into the ice-capped waters, it sent telemetry,
but it was inconclusive, so we went there to see.

O waters of Europa, mysterious and deep!
We were just one planet away, thus we took the leap.
Here on Titan we decided to opt for kinship;
so in our craft, Titan One, we made the four-day trip.

We saw creatures in the deep that had extensive maw,
and elongated glowing things flaunting basic law.
The law, or course, that governs life--that is what we thought;
And I heard a biologist quip, “What hath God Wrought?”

O waters of Europa, such secrets you may hold!
We came from far to plumb your depths, pressure packed and cold.
We brought back waters samples, bacterial ballet;
and much to our amazement, a brand new DNA!*

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*DNA: Deoxyribonucleic acid, is a nucleic acid containing the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms. Earthly DNA has four bases (nucleobases), but the DNA we found in Europa's ocean, had six bases!