DISCLAIMER: The Star Trek characters are the property of Paramount Studios, Inc. The poem contents are the creation and property of Katy Wilson and is copyright (c) 1976 by Katy Wilson. Originally printed in Tal-Shaya #4, 1976.

Song

Katy Wilson

Small planet

dried dreams

that rattle in the wind

like seed pods

gone are the rose bracelets of cities;

gone are the dunes that conquered them;

there is only the sun

and the dust

and the heat.

The sun, with his lantern rises,

to search out the dark and lonely places

lovers lie...

Where shall I start, of what shall I sing?

the peaceful bay from the terrace, azure

mirror of the constant sun

or of the cities gold in sunset, grey

bones at night...

i am buried alive in images!

buried as a miser with his gold--

faces and thoughts and pensive wanderings

and mad desires and quiet contentment

all pouring down over me

enter a white ship

laden with lightyears

bending slowly into orbit

sunrise reflecting in

empty eyes

but I will not Sing of emptiness

of the end of things

for how can I know , to Sing

of things that will never be,

have never been

even in the clouded glass of the night

sky there are stars unseen

cruel stars that lean closer,

closer

waiting to put this funny little

coal to the torch...

"Listen to that wind, will you? God, what a barren place -- nothing but rocks and more rocks. And sand. I hate sand."

"A splendid desolation--"

"You'd be quoting in the loony bin after a year in this place. I pity the survey team that gets stationed here, if this prelim goes through."

"Oh, I imagine you'd get used to it."

"Like I'd get used to this plague! Well -- your 'splendid desolation' is blowing sand in my instruments -- they're going nuts. What about yours?"

The birds grow still

I reach for you at night to keep the fierce stars

at bay

for they pry at the shades with their hard

little hands

and send dreams, nay, torments of

naught

in their golden shafts

"I said, are your instruments working OK?"

"Hmm? Oh -- yeah, they're OK. Why?"

"Why? Just look -- now they're steady... You had the doggondest look on your face just then -- dreaming of Lilith, hmm? Admit it."

"Well, maybe a little bit -- the way the wind was whistling over these rocks sounded almost, well, musical. Like a faint song--"

"And a little green man was singing it, right?"

"The only one that fits that description around here is YOU!"

"Smart aleck. I'm going to get to work -- it's too damned cold to fool around."

warm for the season today

all the boats are winging across the harbor

like children out from school

and even the great fish of the harbor are looming

up to the sky to watch

beloved gargoyles

CALIBRATE

an eternity rests in this day

COMPUTE

the content I bear in you is safe, even

MEASURE

RECORD

CALIBRATE

ANTICIPATE

ANALYZE

SYNTHESIZE

TELEVISE

COMPUTE

"Funny, but the longer I'm in space, the less I remember Suzy the way she really is-- It just seems like she stays exactly the same as that picture I have of her -- smiling, in that dress I always hated, holding little Eddy up -- I always wondered why the old hands say you marry space and a ship, not a woman..."

you were frozen by my wish

I propped you up, snapped the shutter

and now you will stay 29 forever

your past and future fitting neatly

in an 8 x 10 frame--

wait

those are not MY images

alien, pale-bodied women

with dull dark eyes and heavy limbs

"But she HAS to change -- you know that. Can't you just keep remembering that?"

"Yeah, but I keep forgetting -- that sounds funny -- keep forgetting to remember. Got the table for the Altair experiment?"

another Singer? the song is

thin and reedy -- but quick and alien

but there is no one here; I am alone

in the house

maybe they will sing again--

"Remember the sea on Earth? All the boats. That was a fun shore leave."

"Nothing better than messing around in boats, said Rat to Mole."

"Huh?"

"Nothing."

"You and your quotes."

there it is --

I will follow it

"Wonder where our next shore leave'll be? The Old Man say yet?"

"No -- Feger asked him last week and he just glowered."

"He doesn't like shore leave, that's all -- his idea of a good time is to hole up and do inventory."

"Or play solitaire -- give me a hand with this, would you?"

"Well, I hope it's at the sea, anyway. Doesn't look like this poor place ever had one to begin with..."

the sea--

where is it??

that old wound -- that dusty scar --

and where is the city?? there is

nothing in this place except rocks and

dust -- this is not my world!

alien! Hear me! I followed your

thought to this graveyard -- this forgotten place

"Damn, listen to the wind howl! Good thing we're almost done ... sounds like a storm's coming up."

"It shouldn't -- no moisture in the air."

"Well, it's here anyway -- let's get those samples stored--"

I can hear them but

not them me

am I the ghost

or they?

I cannot live here --

this gravity is slowly picking me

apart -- my energy webs are

fraying, thinning

I will not die on this

mockery of a planet -- where my

Singing lives so will I --

alien -- I am your debt,

your responsibility

your albatro

"Listen."

"Wind's stopped."

"It's -- eerie. I don't think they'll put a station here."

"What--? What in blazes has that got to do with a station?"

"Before, it seemed alive. Now it's dead -- carrion. It'll start stinking under this sun."

"If you say so -- well, THIS carcass needs some food--"

Go to bed, and lie

nice and quiet, the medic says.

With that 'have I got another wacko on my

hands?' look ... He should talk...

well, it wouldn't hurt to take a snooze what I can -- some

peace and quiet -- skid 3rd watch--

. . . . . . . . . The stars had their revenge, but they didn't win . . . . .

Now why did I think that? Odd

-- it just drifted in there--

I'll think about the sea -- can hear the

waves, almost, and the salt on the wind . . . . . .

and the birds crying

and the boats sailing . . .

and the sun with his lantern rises,

to search out the dark and lonely places

lovers lie . . . . . . . .