Dear Elon,

You built a universe of electric dreams

a constellation of companies orbiting around you like the sun

like empty satellites

but here, feet stuck on the ground, it shakes

with empty stomachs

A pop star with bright green hair imitating aurora

sent out a post, aimlessly floating through the internets dark

imagining what your wealth could do

Ten billion to protect new lungs

Forty billion to feed neglected appetites

Fifty Three billion to aid the city in rubble

one little star asking the larger one for help

Elon.

Your response shot across the web like a shooting star that had lost its way

You could have orbited towards kindness

Could have let generosity fill your heart

but you deflected

As if kindness was too much to afford

The world WILL keep spinning

only, it will be hungry and helpless and heartless

people will wonder how a man that supposedly holds the universe

can feel so far from the people living on it

and as your future shines

everyone but the orange man

will wait to see

your prized companies finally fall

And when your rockets are finally grounded, and your cybertrucks no longer drive

You remember

You WILL remember

that maybe, the universe is too big for you after all

Artists Intention:

In my poem “Letter to Elon R. Musk,” I tried to write in the same style as Marilyn Dumont’s “Letter to Sir John A. Macdonald.” Dumont speaks to Macdonald about how some of his decisions affected Indigenous and First Nations peoples. I was inspired to use the same approach towards Elon Musk, as he is someone who has shaped the electric vehicle (EV market) as Tesla dominates it, holding the largest market share among EV brands. As well as SpaceX which is very famous and widely seen as the dominant force in the global space industry, known for changing the economics of space travel through its innovations. I used an admirable tone (“you built us a universe of electric dreams”) showing that he is innovative and acute for creating an affordable electric car, and has made the world's most powerful rocket. Later in the stanza my tone shifts into something more of hopefulness (“Ten billion…Forty billion…Fifty three billion”) and the second stanza (“You could have let generosity fill your heart”) then shifts towards disgust and bitter acceptance (“Everyone but the orange man will wait to see your prized companies fall”). Dumont starts with irony and ends with a sense of truth and survival. The tone shift in my poem illustrates how something that was meant to aid the living quality on Earth has also resulted in greed and selfishness. I used Imagery and Juxtaposition when referring to Billie Eilish (“a pop star with bright green hair like aurora, sent out a post, aimlessly floating through the internet's dark”) this compares her bright aura, as she is trying to get him to see what he could do with his money, then compared to the internet's dark aura. The repetition of Elon’s name closely resembles Dumont's, illustrating the emphasis on Elon himself, speaking directly to him. I also use extended metaphor throughout my poem, as well as simile’s to show my audience the significance of SpaceX within the world, by comparing Elon as (“The man who supposedly holds the universe”) which also reflects a tone of sarcasm. Overall, my poem is meant to make the readers and audience think about how even though one person can come off as “trying” to help the world's economy, they can also be selfish and unaware of other people's problems. The ending suggests a hope that Musk will receive the same amount of help he has given others, as many hope he fails in his further dreams due to political and economic concerns.