Poem: "Peculiar Fruit"

This is today's freebie.  It was inspired by a prompt from jenny_evergreen regarding Martian blueberries.

Opportunity found blueberries on Mars,
tiny spherules of shiny dark hematite
scattered across the Meridiani Planum.

In their originating strata they appeared
in layers of sulfate salt evaporitic matrix,
embedded in the outcrop like blueberries in a muffin.

As the matrix eroded, the balls came free
and rolled down the slope
to rest on the grains of dry Martian soil.

They may have been made by accretion under water,
or by meteor impact or by volcanic eruption --
we don't know which yet.

Clearly further study is needed
if we are to pluck the truth
from this peculiar fruit.