Those drawn to the title in expectation of a pastoral epic of autumnal englishness will be slightly disappointed. Applewhite and Nettles were ‘Admiral' Marshall Applewhite and ‘Captain' Bonnie Nettles, self elected leaders of the Heaven's Gate cult, 39 of which committed suicide in 1997. I'm not some geeked out UFOlogist...just happened to be reading a book on the subject and found the names had a poetic ring to them.

This is a fairly pointless little ditty written primarily for practice and posted for no other reason than I crave attention. The ‘crimson' refers to the purple sheets found draped over the victims (so I'm trading on my provisional poetic licence there).

Applewhite and Nettles
'Bo' and 'Peep'
who led their flock via Heaven's Gate
dosed in vodka and barbiturate
to blissful exit-terrestrial sleep.
The Admiral and Captain
compelled their crew
the dropped out drifters,
duped and dazed
drafted and crafted with corrupt elan
through Marshall's gaze
eloped to Hale Bopp's tail
their ordered dream's last course unveiled
grand orbits stray, the destined lay
while crimson cradled the earthbound slain