"Sci-Fi" is a poem by American poet Tracy K. Smith. It was included in the Life on Mars collection published in 2011 by Graywolf Press. The collection is a lament for the poet's father, who worked on the Hubble Space Telescope at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
The poet looks to the infinite expanse of space to find the answers to human suffering. In the future, humans will have outlived all danger. She envisions a future that does not look to its past to charter a path forward. A future that is cleared of all its flaws. What is old will give way to what is new without protest. Oppression and suppression will be a thing of the past. What is unknown now will become common knowledge.
Smith is well renowned for her nuanced depth. She evokes an overwhelming feeling in an endless cycle that captures the audience. In the vacuum of space, Smith expresses so much emotion that encompasses multiple future generations that will lead humanity into the unknown. The collection won the 2012 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry and was nominated for the 2012 Hurston/Wright Legacy Award for Poetry.
