The SkyPath Crusade
A Science Fiction Epic Poem
Copyright © 2007 by Daniel Schilling
All Rights Reserved
Attack on the Martian frontier
November 23, 2007 at 8:45 am (Green eggs and ham, Mars Rover, Martian soldiers, Mr. Roger's neighborhood, Romans on Mars, UfO's, life, people on mars)
An ancient fear
November 23, 2007 at 8:42 am (Fred Rogers, Red Planet, ancient legend, epic of Gilgamesh, epic poetry today, life, present day epic poem, sweater day)
The SkyPath Crusade
A Science Fiction Epic Poem
Copyright © 2007 by Daniel Schilling
All Rights Reserved
Chapter Ten
The seconds fled the time went dead And all of nature paused The creature inched the Roman flinched But neither’s gaze was lost Expectantly they had to see Whose move would seal fate The moment fell when heck and hell Could not much longer wait * With moves rehearsed by minds well versed The deadly sport commenced With fatal skill and strength to kill The two combatants fenced With sword to claw and helm on jaw They fought to gain the ground But though they pressed from foot to chest No weakness there was found * The Roman parried back and forth His body filled with sweat He stuck and stabbed, he jumped and jabbed, But still could not forget An ancient fear he once did hear While on his father’s knee About a distant monster race Who came from Vega Three * “So long ago when time was young,” -His father’s words returned- “They had to leave their mother world Whose surface had been burned With wounded pride and hate inside They tried to make things right By killing guilds on other worlds To thus extend their plight.” * “But now their race has reaped disgrace To such a great extent That any honor they once held Has surely all been spent To love and kiss and nurture bliss Is far beyond their skill They’ve sold their soul and all they know Is how to loot and kill” * The Roman took another look Upon his hated foe The face he saw from nose to jaw Was painted black with woe It’s drooling fangs and mangy bangs Were thick with smells and lice The angry beast to say the least Looked anything but nice * Before he blinked or stopped to think The Roman soldier knew The stories old his father told Were all correct and true The legend stood before him In the stillness of the night Unsheathed in all its evil as A trans-celest’al blight * He yelled a word, he raised his sword, The awful fiend drew near The Roman stooped, his shoulders drooped, Engulfed in darkest fear He gave a cry, he knew he’d die, As surely as it came But in his heart he felt the dart Of deep unvarnished shame * His inner self began to melt And pecked him with its beak The bird inside of righteous pride Had now begun to speak “How dare you die, you have to try!” Implored the tender dove “This thing you do is not for you But others whom you love” * “The truth speaks clear: your help is near If only you will trust For faith and love and things above Will never turn to rust You’ll live or die, or sing or cry, But keep this truth in sight: Though demons cheat there’s no defeat For those who do what’s right” * The soldier knew that this was true As quickly as it spoke Like crystal streams in sunny dreams His will to fight awoke He hacked and sawed, he kicked and pawed, He felt his strength return For loss of breath and fear of death Were none of his concernA glimpse at Earth’s past
November 23, 2007 at 8:40 am (Books, chiral centers, photo-electron effect, stereochemistry, stereochemistry simulations, time-travel)
The SkyPath Crusade
A Science Fiction Epic Poem
Copyright © 2007 by Daniel Schilling
All Rights Reserved
Chapter Eleven
But while this secret battle raged Upon the Martian dune The famous council disengaged Its meetings on the moon The humans flocked where ships were docked Upon a cratered mount They formed themselves in battle cells To take a final count * Along the road the soldiers strode Up to the chasm’s edge They threw their ladders down the cliff And clambered off the ledge The ships below were set to go And soon were cast adrift They floated softly in the air And then began to lift * The cruising craft could taste the draft; Their sails shuddered tight They played a tune above the moon and rose into the night The lunar scars were lost in stars As farther up they rose From deck to hold the air was cold And half the rigging froze * But as they reached the orbit stream And slipped beneath the sphere They made an arc around the dark And broke into a cheer The sun came out there was no doubt That glowing face was hers The men in glee were all stripped free Of outer cloaks and furs * ‘Midst sunny beams they left the streams That hugged the lunar face They steered their craft into a draft That headed deep in space With heavy thoughts and stomach knots They backward glanced to Earth For very few had smelt the dew Where humans had their birth * With silent sighs they glued their eyes Upon the fertile ball They marked the place each ancient race Had lived from rise to fall Egyptian Lords and Roman hordes Could glimpse their continents While Chinese Chen and all his men Could see the Asian fence * They slowly breathed and inward seethed To watch it slip away They felt a yearn to once return Perhaps this time to stay But down inside their ancient pride Recalled them to their quest The things they knew they had to do Were for the planet’s best * So resolute and sad and mute They paid their last respect Though passion hurt they stayed alert While Earth became a speck The kingdoms past they knew at last Had suffered each its death But human pain and human gain Had drawn its second breathA nightmare in outerspace
November 23, 2007 at 8:38 am (fiction, flamingos from neptune, giant squids, hot oil pump, medieval outerspace ether, space slipstream, space travel, space trilogy)
The SkyPath Crusade
A Science Fiction Epic Poem
Copyright © 2007 by Daniel Schilling
All Rights Reserved
Chapter Twelve
They say the air in ether streams Is nectar on the tongue The magic draughts will give you thoughts That make you feel young A hundred ninety seven ships Made up that famous fleet To ev’ry crewman on the trip The taste was bittersweet * The path that lay before their sprits Was paved with dying hopes A dreadful sadness seared the souls Of those who manned the ropes They had to face a fearful race Like none they’d ever tried They’d have to fight the Persian knights Who served the other side * The princess in her state of mind Could hardly sleep that night In space they say it’s never day And yet the sun is bright The ion streams can mess with dreams Of those whose hearts are soft It hits the worst the very first A person flies aloft * Throughout the night she slept in fright Her mind besieged by cares Her frantic brain was under strain From inter-stellar flares She tossed and turned, a fever burned, Her bosom heaved with sighs The hopes and fears of future years Went flitting past her eyes * In mental states she saw her fates Of many kinds appear She walked beside the boiling tide Where hazy thoughts are clear Inside each life she lived as wife To diff’rent sorts of men Each man she tried was full of pride But no one was her friend * The Chinese Chen with all his men Was first to grace her dreams He fed her torte—a rich dessert— And filled her mouth with creams He marched her up and down the streets To make their presence known But in the night he took his flight And left her home alone * Her second fad was just as bad She married Caesar Mark He combed her hair and called her fair But never after dark That Roman flirt would wear no shirt When courtyard girls were near To find his charms in other arms Became her lifelong fear * Some eighteen more, an even score, Embraced her with a kiss But ev’ry life as someone’s wife Was anything but bliss Each manly face could not erase The failure of the last Each rotten dream contained a theme She never could get past * The promise of each wedding day Would always go awry She spent her years condemned in tears To watch her passion die She could not pin her inward sin And yet she felt the guilt She could not halt the taste of fault Each time her love was spilt * With all these thoughts inside her head She suddenly awoke Ensconced in gloom she scanned the room As if her mind were broke A subspace cleft had surely left Her neurons all abuzz She gave a shake and with an ache Remembered where she was * Alone in pain and half insane She moaned upon her bed While figments of desired love Went dancing through her head Adrift in space she had to face A life with none to guide She missed the mirth she felt on Earth Where friends and folk resideThe Angelic visitor
November 23, 2007 at 8:36 am (Angels, Chaucerian verse, The dream of the Rood, asparagus, epic poetry, free verse, sailing ships in outerspace, space animals)
The SkyPath Crusade
A Science Fiction Epic Poem
Copyright © 2007 by Daniel Schilling
All Rights Reserved
Chapter Thirteen
She thought she heard some whispered words Supined upon her bed In ancient Greek she heard them speak And this is what they said “Oisato gar, theon atar,” (variation on the Odyssey I.323) It mumbled through her hair Her gentle youth perceived the truth: A spirit now was there * A glowing light of crystal white Cascaded near her side She quickly saw that nature’s law Had surely been defied The heavens’ reach had sprung a breach The seconds seemed like months She strongly felt the creature dwelt In double realms at once * The being saw a part of her And her a part of it The band of air beside the chair Began to warp and split The face she spied had never lied Its lips were linked to truth Their lofty lore would now restore The fountain of her youth * “Oh daughter of the Earthling king You know why I am here To show to thee what soon wilt be To quench thy inner fear The planets’ chores and coming wars Are not the news I bring But rather now I’ll tell you how Your soul shall laugh and sing” * “You have a fear inside of you That’s part of human fate The curse proceeded from that tree Of which your grandma ate You have a need to love and breed Or else you’re incomplete But if you try to love some guy You fear that he may cheat” * “The burden cast upon your soul Has plagued your whole race Each girl and man since time began Has borne it all their days The only way to make love pay Is never to reverse The choice you take your best to make For better or for worse” * “But now my dear expel your fear That’s got you in this slump I bear a gift that’s bound to lift Your spirit from the dump No other soul may ever know If those they love are true But yet the monarch of my realm Will give this gift to you” * “I sing this promise in your ear That you will surely love A man so true he’ll cling to you Until you’ve had enough I won’t decree who this may be Or how or when or where But when you weep or fall asleep I promise he’ll be there” * “Throughout his years he’ll wipe the tears That drip beneath your eyes He’ll wield the passion of your love Across these sparkling skies The things he’ll do in love for you Surpass what others say Though brief in speech his heart will reach To guide you through each day” * “But you will have to pay a price For winning such a man In turn for this, a time of bliss, He’ll live a shortened span For mortals know the pain and woe That living must provide He’ll miss the worst by sailing first Across the great divide”The Scotman’s tears
November 23, 2007 at 8:31 am (Folk poetry, angelic verse, epic poetry revival, medieval ballad, modern literature, spaghetti and meatballs)
The SkyPath Crusade
A Science Fiction Epic Poem
Copyright © 2007 by Daniel Schilling
All Rights Reserved
Chapter Fourteen
The pounding blood in Shelah’s heart Was sloshed inside her chest The scarlet lanes that marked her veins Were visibly compressed The glowing man upheld his hand Above a reddened spot She quickly felt a vessel melt That just began to clot * A grateful sparkle in her eyes Was all the thanks she gave Her lips, though weak, would love to speak Her tongue was not so brave The space distortion burst apart In shreds of magic light The angel raised a feathered wing And flew into the night * The glimmer of the spirit’s form Had ceased to glow and burn The grimy gloom that filled her room Took seconds to return She fixed her fingers on her face Her eyes were red and sore She slipped her sandals on her feet And scampered out the door * She pattered past the pinioned planks That propped a painted scow She kneeled down upon the ground And made a private vow Her words were lost; the ship was tossed In eddy streams of jade But heaven’s ear was swift to hear The promise that she made * A ghostly gust of comet dust Compelled her to her feet The pearly paste had sugar’s taste The flecks were soft and sweet Like flakes of snow they cast a glow Upon her pallid neck She raised an eye and saw nearby The footprints on the deck * The trodden pairs implored her stares They covered half the floor They scattered flecks across the deck A hundred feet or more The mark of boots like parachutes Proceeded to the barge The tender teen had never seen A pair of feet so large * The Princess Shelah quickly cleared A pathway to the boat Her skin was wet from comet sweat That melted on her coat The frosted skiff convulsed as if It sailed a windy lake With pupil’s wide she climbed the side To see what made it shake * The Scottish Alfred sat within His hands before his face His fickle fingers fumbled forth A faded piece of lace A row of tears like Triton’s spears Had pierced the dust with spots A silver whisp both thin and crisp Alighted from the dots * He smiled at his little charge And helped her climb inside He moved his feet to share his seat And tried to stem the tide She dried his tears below his ears Until he found control And in the end he told his friend Of all that plagued his soul * She listened hard when as a bard He told her of his wife Who sat at home, depressed alone, Unhappy with her life She tried to cheer her giant peer And yet she felt inside She’d rather die than ever try To be that Scotman’s brideChapter Fifteen
November 23, 2007 at 8:29 am (Uncategorized)
The SkyPath Crusade
A Science Fiction Epic Poem
Copyright © 2007 by Daniel Schilling
All Rights Reserved
Chapter Fifteen
The sight of comets in the sky Is like a feathered spark For those adrift who catch a whiff It smells like maple bark The pleasant smell will seem like hell When trapped within its wake When days are marked by endless dark, The heart begins to break * That fateful day in early May The famous fleet drew nigh A sphere so vast it shed so fast It blotted half the sky The tail fell just parrelel The course they had to take It drew so near it made them fear Of drowning in its wake * The kings at once were called from lunch To meet on Traver’s ship He said the disk posed quite a risk Of strengthening its grip The English knight exposed their plight As truthful as he could He said unless they stop to rest Their chances weren’t so good * The kings agreed to slow their speed Until they asked how long The Briton smirked, his shoulder’s jerked, He said he might be wrong But at this rate he’d calculate They’d have to wait for days Because –he said—the comet’s head Was melting from the rays * The Chinese Chen with sev’ral men Sprang madly to his feet He made a bray that Travers Grey Was calling for defeat He said his ship would keep its clip When up jumped Caesar Mark Who punched the Asian in the face And knocked his head out dark * The guardsmen of the Chinese king Had scarce the time to gasp When Alfred jumped them from behind As quickly as an asp Then Travers charged into the fray And Marcus punched some more In half a sec they made a reck Of all the Chinese corps * The Roman smiled with delight And offered up a drink His British host proposed a toast That turned his man-flesh pink The murky air produced a pair Of swinging Roman fists But Alfred tore a two-by-four And smacked him on the wrists * But good ol’ Alf would soon himself Be made to taste the floor A Hittite Lord who dodged his board Expelled him through the door Egyptians and Phoenicians Chaldeans and a Hun Endeavored all to join the brawl Though no one cared who won * As minutes flew a very few Were all who had survived But many knights rejoined the fights The moment they revived The Chinese Chen and all his men Felt many knockout blows While Caesar Mark fought like a shark ‘Til someone cracked his nose * ‘Midst all this din there entered in the royal girl herself She gazed around and cast a frown On good ol’ brother Alf She stopped to park by Caesar Mark And wiped his bloody face But then she kicked him in the ribs And left them in disgrace * At once the crowd was quickly cowed For seconds no one spoke The leaders mumbled to themselves As if their tongues were broke Their private war was fun no more Since Shelah bawled them out So then the men sat down again And worked their problems outChapter Sixteen
November 23, 2007 at 8:28 am (Uncategorized)
The SkyPath Crusade
A Science Fiction Epic Poem
Copyright © 2007 by Daniel Schilling
All Rights Reserved
Chapter Sixteen
The sun shrank sharply in the sky As comet clouds advanced The fleet flew in on gusts of wind Where plasma surges branched Since days ago they’d seen it snow Enough to make you numb But nothing there could yet compare To what was still to come * The kings and such stayed out of touch Aboard the English ship They sent no news to all their crews About the coming trip For half the day they talked away They couldn’t make up their mind If they should stall to skip the squall Or else to enter blind * But in the end the Chinese Chen Convinced the other guys That urgent need should supersede Their fear of stormy skies Though ships are lost it’s worth the cost As long as most escaped He knew that they could change the way The coming war was shaped * So when at last their votes were cast The Asian motion won They’d point their spars to Rosy Mars Before the storm was done The Chinese Chen and all his men Agreed to lead them through So they’d be first to taste the worst When ships were blown in two * With inward sighs and sunken eyes The Asians took their leave Afraid inside they took their pride In what they would achieve The English crew paid homage to The crew of Chinese Chen With thoughts depressed they silent guessed Which ones they’d see again * The Princess Shelah shed a tear Alone so none would know The Chinese Chief compelled her grief So bravely did he go A man that strong could do no wrong Who tested death so bold She hoped that he could somehow be The one who was foretold * And so the fleet made haste to meet The storm that blocked their path The comet shell was blown to hell Before the sunlight’s wrath The melting shocks blew giant rocks Apart like tire-treads Inside the draft some fifteen craft Were swiftly torn to shreds * And then the jolts from plasma bolts Destroyed a couple more These deadly streams of ion beams Impaired another score The man who felt his atoms melt Had scarce the time to shout Before his flesh became a mess That sizzled inside out * But when at last the worst was past They saw the mist increase It grew so thick a wall of brick Would fade with much more ease Though thermal shock and flying rock Had ceased to be a theme Each sightless ship could swiftly slip Outside the ether stream * The English craft embraced the draft As light became more dim Their cunning guide steered well inside The stream’s concealed rim They still could clip another ship Within the ether node At least they’re safe from open space Where body parts explodeChapter Seventeen
November 23, 2007 at 8:25 am (Uncategorized)
The SkyPath Crusade
A Science Fiction Epic Poem
Copyright © 2007 by Daniel Schilling
All Rights Reserved
Chapter Seventeen
Beneath the lashes of her lids The Princess’ pupils shook If there’d been light she’d be a sight To make a friar look A maiden’s face is filled with grace When living is in doubt The heightened stakes is what it takes To scare her beauty out * She walked across the snowy deck And gazed into the gloom Then all around she heard the sound Of men in dreadful doom She heard the woe from ships below She heard the ships above She heard the names of distant dames Who shared some sailor’s love * Through all the groans and awful moans Her fingers dripped with tears She wiped their tips against her lips And stuck them in her ears She strained her eyes to pierce the skies To find some kind of break Her teenage brain now half insane Had more than it could take * When all seemed lost an Albatross Came flying from nowhere The men had heard this kind of bird Could breathe the ether air Each century these birds would flee From Earth to Planet nine It now appeared a chick they reared Had gotten left behind * It shimmered soft at ease aloft Unhindered through the storm Each ship astray though far away Could glimpse its feathered form No beam of light was yet in sight But still the bird shone clear Each helmsman’s eye was glad to spy This star by which to steer * The sailors laughed and joked at aft For once the mood was calm The sparkling wraith restored their faith Massaging hopes with balm The ships behind were placed in line As helmsmen gained their heart From sprit to mast the ropes were cast To keep the ships apart * For half the day there was no ray Of light from sun nor moon The clouds stayed strong all morning long And through the afternoon As ev’ning came it seemed the same Until they saw a shaft That rose across the albatross And lit the ether draft * The sun came out with all its clout To greet their longing stares It shone so bright into the night It took them unawares The warm display was strong as day Infusing dust with rays This sudden spike was nothing like The dark of outer space * The glowing reef spelled soft relief For danger now was gone The pumping blood had slowed it’s thud To let the sailors yawn The inky black came floating back As skies became more clear For now at last they’d made it past The remnant of the sphereChapter Eighteen
November 23, 2007 at 8:23 am (Uncategorized)
The SkyPath Crusade
A Science Fiction Epic Poem
Copyright © 2007 by Daniel Schilling
All Rights Reserved
