AMONG THE ASTEROIDS
Written and submitted by Cynthia Howe
(C) 1997, by Cynthia Howe, All Rights Reserved

Next week, I'll be in Heaven,
Today, I'll be somewhere else.
I hope an asteroid hits your belt,
For alas, I am atop a survey.....

And I survey the field for a glimpse of the ship.
My high standard orders control this system,
Pack'd with flying debris of a once secure world.
Wiithin a grey steel encampment,
I wander thru the control panels looking for a sign...
A light touch, a copp'd feel -
Hey, I see something on those scanners, my lord,
They've come round for another pass, heading home.
But ah - ahhhhh - what are those -
<THUD>
A large mass hit the bulkhead;
I hit my head against the wall's defecting blow.
The steady ship of thousandfold luck
Rushes thru the cloud of foggy rock.
My great ship follows,
Whilst the commander is reporting to his holo-wayed-master.
Still born, the portal reveals our fighters
Flaming 'gainst unyielding rocks with unshielded tendencies.
I lay awake, staring, adjusting my uniform with nervousness.
The enemy ship flies flawlessly thru hidden passageways,
Ducking into one of the asteroids for shelter.
(Of course, we didn't know that.)
They find a gaping hole to fill,
Among the wire-munching creatures
With which they'd make great company.
Then the hole is alive with confusion at laser-fire
Made to attack those one-too-many wire munchers.
They make a run for cover and out of the now revealed mouth
Of another creature, sleep-deprived.
Into space's arms, they flee toward our grasp-
Wishing I could be there for the glory....
More of the fighters are pounded upon,
And the accursed ship ducks yet again....
....onto the back of one of ours!
(But we didn't know that either.)
A poor soul died, thus, for his failure to lure this ship.
As we fly into hyperactive space,
The ship sneaks off toward elsewhere, en refuse.
Unbeknowingly and stealthily a new ship enters the fold,
And claims their scanners upon his own.
Tracking them down toward cloudier Heavens,
That either resemble dawn or dusk.
He cannot fail us, and alas, I live to see another day.
Confronting them within a city,
Forcing them beyond their clouded way.