Okay:

What if humanity couldn’t see the sky?
What if they’d shut it out long ago,
but we didn’t remember why?
What if that vast expanse, with
sunset’s blues and pinks and gold
were only known from old wives’ tales
and stories no longer told?

Okay, what if?

Would buildings climb to butt the roof
and the streets be corridors;
would there be giant lights and ceiling fans
even above the English moors?
Would surfer girls be pale and pink
for the lack of the sun to tan,
or would they get the same effect
with a spray out of a can?
Would astronomers pine for a single glimpse
of the Milky Way at night?
Perhaps they’d join the ornithologists
who miss the birds in flight:

“A toast!
All drink to the distelfink!
The heron, once here but gone!
In honor of feathery friends near-extinct,
Come!
Belly up!
Tie one…