Monday, June 20, 2011

Claffactory or TroBriand #3: Troodon

Claffactory or TroBriand #3: Troodon

On the day I hatched
i looked up at the sky
it was grey with ash
and somewhere deep in my mind
i knew it was all wrong.

I grew up in a world of sorrows
most the trees had died
the larger animals with them
and when I finally starved to death
i knew I was the last of my kind.

Death has a way of giving one perspective
and the anger I had felt all my life
began to fade over the millennia
i sat beyond the cycles of life and watched
and I watch still.

In the 65 million years since then
i've seen the rise of you mammals
saw the beast that would become you
and all the wonders it was capable of
i saw you make your world what it is today.

But your skies are turning grey too
and you are as helpless as i was to stop it
when your kind has breathed their last
perhaps you will come to where i am
and we can watch what comes next.

Saturday, June 18, 2011

Claffactory or Trobriand #4: Red Star

Claffactory or Trobriand #4: Red Star
(The Ballad of Vladamir Komarov)


Walking up to the rocket,
The wind is so cold on your face
But your suit is filled with sweat
 And on the other side of the fence
Your best friend is yelling at you
Till two men come and send him home
There's nothing he can do
Because you: you're already dead

The boosters shake the capsule
Your teeth rattle in your helmet
But the rocket doesn't explode
So you stop praying
And you fall into orbit
But then the power cuts out
you begin to spin out of control
And you know: you're already dead

They put the Premier on the radio
And he calls you a hero
They put your wife on
But all she can do is cry
As you try to steer to earth
You curse the engineers that killed you
The parachutes never open
And when they pull you out of the crater
You were already dead.