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This is the linkback poem for 
ysabetwordsmith's Poetry Fishbowl. It is Alien In-Laws, and at 22 verses, is part of the Starfather 'verse.
Ways you can reveal a verse:
Signal boosting! Every signal boost (livejournal, dreamwidth, Facebook, Twitter, etc...) will reveal a new line of the poem. Multiple boosts will each reveal a line. Please comment either here or at the livejournal mirror with link to your signal boost. And of course, please visit the Poetry Fishbowl. This month's theme is 'mature and old adults'.
Thank you,
janetmiles,
wyld_dandelyon,
rix_scaedu, Dreamwidth user Layla, and the Poetreee linker for their linkbacks! Drive forth!
Alien In-Laws
After the Hesh destroyed the colony,
Fleet scientists analyzed the colonial ship
and worked to trace it back to the alien homeworld.
Meanwhile, Lieutenant Adjo Mubarak was left to manage
the sole survivor as best he could, the tiny tentacled infant
clinging to his waist with parasitic suckers.
Adjo wished that he could return the baby to the proper family,
because he was terrified of doing something wrong --
but then again, human babies didn't come with instructions either
and Bes was truly the "joy bringer" that his name implied.
At last Fleet made second contact
with the aliens who called themselves the Touched,
warning them about the Hesh
and informing them of their colony's fate.
The xenolinguists and the diplomats did their work,
and soon Adjo received an invitation to a meeting.
Zusa the xenolinguist met him when he arrived.
"It's going quite well," she explained,
"because the Touched are empathic,
so that makes translation much easier."
"I'm sure it does," Adjo said,
with Bes radiating curiosity in his mind.
No wonder the Hesh had cut through the colony
like a laser-knife through fresh bread.
The Touched blended into the meeting room,
their skin the silver of the ship's walls
accented with the deep blue of the seats.
One of them came forward and Zusa said,
"Adjo, this is Fallinglight, grandfather of the survivor."
"Lieutenant Adjo Mubarak at your service, sir,"
he replied. "I'm sorry about the loss of your family."
Fallinglight burbled something, and Zusa translated,
"We are grateful that you saved what you could."
Adjo stroked the small warm lump under his uniform.
"Will you want your grandchild back now?" he asked,
hoping and fearing that the answer would be yes,
fearing and hoping that the answer would be no.
"I love him, but I hardly know what to do for him."
"Let us discover," said Fallinglight. "May I touch?"
Adjo wondered what that was all about,
but agreed, "You may touch."
The fine tentacles were as deft as fingertips,
unbuttoning Adjo's uniform to stroke the baby
who cuddled against his waist.
Pink circles stood out against Adjo's brown skin
where Bes' suckers had attached and released,
the scars not yet faded.
Fallinglight traced over the rings and said,
"You have carried him since the colony's death-day?"
50 "Since the moment his parents fell, yes," Adjo said.
(To be continued...)
<>This entry was originally posted at http://www.dreamwidth.org/12345.html. Please comment here or there. Comments on Dreamwidth are accpeted using OpenID.
ysabetwordsmith's Poetry Fishbowl. It is Alien In-Laws, and at 22 verses, is part of the Starfather 'verse.
Ways you can reveal a verse:
Signal boosting! Every signal boost (livejournal, dreamwidth, Facebook, Twitter, etc...) will reveal a new line of the poem. Multiple boosts will each reveal a line. Please comment either here or at the livejournal mirror with link to your signal boost. And of course, please visit the Poetry Fishbowl. This month's theme is 'mature and old adults'.
Thank you,
janetmiles,
wyld_dandelyon,
rix_scaedu, Dreamwidth user Layla, and the Poetreee linker for their linkbacks! Drive forth!
Alien In-Laws
After the Hesh destroyed the colony,
Fleet scientists analyzed the colonial ship
and worked to trace it back to the alien homeworld.
Meanwhile, Lieutenant Adjo Mubarak was left to manage
the sole survivor as best he could, the tiny tentacled infant
clinging to his waist with parasitic suckers.
Adjo wished that he could return the baby to the proper family,
because he was terrified of doing something wrong --
but then again, human babies didn't come with instructions either
and Bes was truly the "joy bringer" that his name implied.
At last Fleet made second contact
with the aliens who called themselves the Touched,
warning them about the Hesh
and informing them of their colony's fate.
The xenolinguists and the diplomats did their work,
and soon Adjo received an invitation to a meeting.
Zusa the xenolinguist met him when he arrived.
"It's going quite well," she explained,
"because the Touched are empathic,
so that makes translation much easier."
"I'm sure it does," Adjo said,
with Bes radiating curiosity in his mind.
No wonder the Hesh had cut through the colony
like a laser-knife through fresh bread.
The Touched blended into the meeting room,
their skin the silver of the ship's walls
accented with the deep blue of the seats.
One of them came forward and Zusa said,
"Adjo, this is Fallinglight, grandfather of the survivor."
"Lieutenant Adjo Mubarak at your service, sir,"
he replied. "I'm sorry about the loss of your family."
Fallinglight burbled something, and Zusa translated,
"We are grateful that you saved what you could."
Adjo stroked the small warm lump under his uniform.
"Will you want your grandchild back now?" he asked,
hoping and fearing that the answer would be yes,
fearing and hoping that the answer would be no.
"I love him, but I hardly know what to do for him."
"Let us discover," said Fallinglight. "May I touch?"
Adjo wondered what that was all about,
but agreed, "You may touch."
The fine tentacles were as deft as fingertips,
unbuttoning Adjo's uniform to stroke the baby
who cuddled against his waist.
Pink circles stood out against Adjo's brown skin
where Bes' suckers had attached and released,
the scars not yet faded.
Fallinglight traced over the rings and said,
"You have carried him since the colony's death-day?"
50 "Since the moment his parents fell, yes," Adjo said.
(To be continued...)
<>This entry was originally posted at http://www.dreamwidth.org/12345.html. Please comment here or there. Comments on Dreamwidth are accpeted using OpenID.