Spacewain

The horse and cart looked weird beside the ship:
From plod of hoof and rattle of iron sheathed wheel
To intergalactic lurch of tame black hole
Seemed more than just their centuries apart.
Guffaws engulfed the gantry overhead
As wits enquired of the horse's owner
If he had brought the ship's new drive unit
And would it exceed the speed of light if whipped?
The carter kept a smile fixed on his face,
He's heard all this before and is immune.
His transport, being neutral, is a boon
When moving items shielded from the force
More up to date equipment might let loose.
He cantered off, unshied by the abuse.

Officer Material

His uniform was good -- all that gold braid --
Which left me only seconds to decide
If he was military or just a doorman.
There were a hundred worlds he could be from,
So I was not just ignorant because
I didn't recognize his style of dress
Or rank. I had no time to check him out:
There is a manual listing every sort
On every planet of the Terran Empire --
It's many inches thick -- my copy lost.
In desperation I gave a smart salute
And got one back. He passed by stony faced.
Now I'll never know if he was bluffing.

So Near

Snatched from space at the moment of escape
By gravity's implacable iron hand;
All our engines screamed the song of freedom
But just lacked thrust enough to make the break.
We willed it on with prayer, plea and curse
In vain for thirty seconds' worth of hope
Until we knew the only way was down.

Mine, All Mine

At last I saw the world as Taylor did:
Sharp. Clear. Not all fuzzy at the edges,
No sudden loomings at you from the mist.
My back was straight, my knees no longer throbbed,
My chest no longer wheezed: no aches, no pains --
Just life and health and strength that comes with youth.
He'd made it easy for me too -- the fool!
(Told him the drug would merely help him sleep)
His strong young body now belongs to me.

Best Ever

Not since the day we lost the Captain's cat
And everyone got thrown into the brig
Until the guilty party had been found
Had we laughed so much.

Not since the time we suddenly slipped out
Of hyperspace and saw, instead of Earth,
The middle of a large, strange battle fleet
Had we felt so scared.

Not since the Christmas, when on special leave
We'd all picked up a mystery disease
Which turned each man a violent shade of blue
Had we been so ill.

Not since the day we first signed on for life
And made, perhaps, a terrible mistake
Because there was no chance of going back
Had it felt so good.

Dark Horizons

Eight and a half minutes after the sun
Went out our tans began to fade. The dark
Was soon relieved by starlight, but no moon
Because without reflected light it could
Not shine. The chill was something else again:
A winter such as we have never known
Has come to stay forever, freeze the seas
And turn the planet's molten core to ice.
The nearest stars are many years away,
Their twinkles promise warmth instead of cold
But not, if we should go, a guarantee
Of finding worlds upon which we could live.

Copyright (c) John Francis Haines 1989
First published as House of Moonlight Poetry Leaflet 3 

Go to Meet the Authors: John Francis Haines