Forever Elusive
Poem - by Pedro Iniguez
The generation ship
heralded salvation
for those refugees, war-torn,
forlorn and forgotten.
For millennia, they sailed
on solar tides
upon the endless void,
dreaming and waiting.
Home, forever elusive,
out of grasp,
awaited discovery
in a future yet to arrive.
Until, the beauty of that
verdant sphere made
even the most stoic
misty-eyed.
Swarming probes concluded:
air, oceans,
flora, fauna,
flourishing life.
Jubilation ran rampant
across rusted corridors and
news of deliverance
spread like a cold.
Yet on planetfall’s eve they
witnessed clans of grey-skinned natives
toiling on golden hills, and
supping from silver-streamed canals.
The refugees recalled
memories from historic tomes;
conquerors, steel-plated rovers,
killing and pilfering the land;
Colonizers wiping bloody
boots on welcome mats
made of good will
and fertile soil.
And so, probes returned,
coordinates were wiped,
thrusters fired, and home
would wait for another day.