(In 1995 a Singaporean and British university teamed up to send a satellite payload into Low Earth Orbit above Singapore. The project was code-named The UoSAT-12 MERLION.)
Now that they're planning to clone embryos,
why not a monstrosity that swims and flies
with the head of a lion? Just think:
it could outpace the Starhub blimp,
skywrite ads above the Esplanade
in an inimitable scrawl and bowl tourists over
with its not-quite-jet-engine roar.
The military could use it as a living mascot
for the power of combined arms; the zoo,
for its unparallelled biodiversity.
Poets would soar with fresh, inspired themes
and there'd be one more thing to crow about
on August 9th. If the scholar-boys are up to it
they could even send the leo to Low Earth Orbit,
one more eye to watch over us, keep our cell-phones covered.
Imagine the outcry of delight, when all SQ flights take on
fur-lined leather seats, organic heating
(once they do something to the smell).
Seven million visitors a year can't be wrong,
nor can the green life they clutch in their hands,
and for this this spiked building scrapes the skyline.
If we had wings home would always be near at hand,
wherever we call our favourite patch of dust.
Anyone can leave orbit when pushed hard enough.