Words and Music © 2004 Jeffrey L. Sponsler
Thalia:
a traveler - a pro at mining mountains
he had a tale to tell of a particular
place in space - he was of a race
not naturally evolved
1
the spectrum indicated
that the rock was prime for change
a mother lode of promethium
in the crystal mountain range
2
a foreman of the drilling teams
The Miners if you will
I was selected and dispatched
was genuinely thrilled
3
to watch the mindless robots
spin an artificial moon
to build a base (profit making haste)
no time to study runes
4
no statement of the ecologic
consequences there
no agencies - no bribes to make
no one to interfere
Chorus:
the satellite was soon complete
three moons then in the sky
soon The Miners would arrive
to bleed the planet dry
and when the precious metals were gone
we'd leave this world behind
no one to stare in wonder at the
tantalum carbon alloy moon
5
I set my feet upon the land
and faced the solar wind
my skin reacted to the light
and no I can't pretend
6
that photosynthesis is wrong
a pleasure and a need
genetic rearrangers spawned
a race who never feed
7
but then my mind became aware
a pool of ocean blue
the particles suspended there
revolving and they grew
Chorus:
and soon a woman stood before
my disbelieving eyes
she turned - she pointed to the Moon
that floated in the sky
there were no words - emotions swept
the surface tension and
I felt the fear - a vision clear -
she moved - she touched me with her hand
8
the mountain spires were fallen, crushed
the fractal patterns gone
volcanic fires - the vision said -
would fuel a smoking dawn
9
the living layer - very thin
would be reduced to sand
the woman and her protozoic
kind gone from the land
Chorus:
the light returned - the vision done
I turned to her to say
I didn't really understand
but she faded into gray
the disassociation came
before she told me why
as she returned to primordic state
I thought I heard a sound - a distant cry
instrumental Section (industrious robot scene)
10
the miners came - their work began
the rocks were cut to size
and placed into the freighters docked
at the Carbon Alloy Moon
11
and all was well as time moved by
then a routine seismic scan
the structure of the planet changed
events not in the plan
12
we analyzed, synthologized,
the numbers were unclear
the crystal mountains began to quake
the Miners ran with fear
13
there was no time for their escape
the magma rivers flowed
the Alloy Moon upset the gravity
equations showed
Chorus:
the mission there was now complete
a fortune had been made
but the planet was returned
to its Precambrian past
I will always see her face
of sadness - I was warned
but I’m controlled by recombinant genes
and Tantalum Carbon Alloy Moon
the Tantalum Carbon Alloy Moon
"Strange Woman" Drawing © 2004 Peter Eccles