Sunlight and Saxophone

ttto (and a sequel to) "Starlight and Saxophone" by Tom Smith
Written at Concertino '99 for the Sequels instafilk contest.

 

It's 3 o'clock in the morning, shiptime
Only 5 more hours to go.
Too many miles have passed behind us
Too many years have passed below.

My mem'ries now are fairy tales I've
Told myself a hundred times before,
Lying about the happy endings,
Leaving me desperate for more

I wish that my viewscreen was a real window
As I gaze at the Earthly skies.
The moon is lovely but it can't tell me
That it's brighter than her eyes.

We've been doing point-nine C, but that doesn't
Help with relativity.
The time's passed too fast down on Terra
And my heart beats fearfully.

So before I pack my saxophone, I'll play again tonight.
A lonely gentle melody, to make me feel all right...
I won't think of what's before me,
Of the only one who might have heard me play.
     She's still far away...

The console bleeps, Control is calling, we're
Close, I'd better put the sax away
I've serenaded stars for so long now,
I've been far too long in space.

But now I've given up my starship
I've seen too many foreign dawns
And I've given up my wand'rings, my
Music is so lonely now she's gone.

And I softly play my saxophone, as the computers bring me back,
A warm and friendly sound that keeps the jackals from my back.
And I think of what I left behind me, with the one who understands
The dreams I play
     She's still far away.

I board the shuttle and look before us,
I look down at the blue of Earthly sky...
We race from orbit and too soon we're landing,
I turn so no-one else can see me cry...

It's ten o'clock in the morning, Eastern
I step out into the blinding blue
And a redcap gently comes to tell me,
"Please come to Reception Two."

But the only thing I find there is a
Lovely woman waiting all alone.
She's standing looking out of the window,
Playing her heart in steel and chrome.

And she takes the saxophone from her lips as she turns to me to say,
"I've missed you Daddy, Mom's been gone for ten years and a day.
But now your journey's ended, and our hearts will soon be mended
Not just halfway, not just for today.
     You've come home to stay."

 

© 1999 Rachel S. Silverman

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