Venus and the Ark

I believe Anne Sexton called her poem a spoof because of the outcome of the mission. It's like an aha moment. The smartest people (two men in this case), are sent to explore and understand Venus (the planet named after a goddess). The men bring life that is rendered useless to the planet, such as rats and snakes. They bring dirt but no seeds. They tell Earth that Venus is similar in climate to Earth, and the leaders of planet Earth destroy themselves. In addition, it is a spoof because to the new planet that sprouts life, the men bring snakes which are symbolized as sin in the Garden of Eden. They ended up causing their own destruction through greed, which is also green. One thing that confused me about the poem was the location. Did the men land on Venus which sprouted life, or back to the condemned world where life began again?