Venus and the Ark #3

One simple look at the title of this poem, "Venus and the Ark", is all you need to understand why Sexton calls her poem a spoof. The title makes reference to the biblical story of Noah's Ark. In the bible, humanity had However, God warned Noah of the impending disaster and told him to build an ark and use it to save his family as well as the animals. In this poem, Sexton tells the story of the Earth being destroyed by nuclear warfare. Two scientists have built a rocket to take animals, food, and dirt to Venus to give society a second chance. Sexton's poem and the biblical story are very similar tales of total destruction with the only hope remaining with a small portion of society.