Hints of methane taunt the air
provoking passing probes to stare:

released from creatures in the sand,
or sources more inert and bland?

Theories range from melting ice
to speculations less precise.

Slowly rovers excavate
while satellites ground-penetrate
sifting sampled dirt for signs,
some data set that redefines
exclusive views of life on Earth
suggesting blessings of our birth
were neither flukes, anomalies,
nor passing curiosities:

creation writ in cosmic plans,
the Universe not merely man's.