A Traveling Child's First ABCs

A Traveling Child's First ABCs

Printed by Rodina Free Press, Aft Deck, Level 4

A is for Aft Deck, where workers all live

Those with big dreams but with little to give

B is for Bosonics, a wonderful tool

Now metal men serve under humankind's rule

C is for the Council, elected by all

A small group of men hold the ship in their thrall

D is for Danica, the morning star bright

She circles her sister and bathes in her light

E is for Earth: a weak, decadent bore

We all lived there once, but we don't anymore

F is for Fore Deck, where the rich flex their powers

When we land, their fine clothes will be dirty like ours

G is for Gravity: keeps your feet on the ground

Without it, our up would look much like our down

H is for Home, where we one day will land

With the sun on our backs and fine seed in our hand

I is for Independence, the virtue most high

A traveler knows you need this or you die

J is for Joint-Stock, which is how we're arranged

And the shares in our venture can all be exchanged

K is for the Kin that we left far behind

Those lacking in courage, the cowed, and blind

L is for Limnal Drive, built by Malcolm McCreedy

It's clean and efficient and remarkably speedy

M is for the Mission Plan that our grandparents wrote

It ensures that we all have a voice and a vote

N is for Niceness, which we all must maintain

The ship is too small to hold anger and pain

O is for Old Ways that are now dead and gone

The folks on this ship will be nobody's pawn

P is for People's Assembly, in which all may speak

It gives voice to the bold and a shield to the weak

Q is for Quotas that we all must fulfill

Hard work and rough hands are the price of free will

R is for Rationing the things that are rare

Not waste, but conserve. Not replace, but repair.

S is for Sleeper Car, where the richest are laid

When we land, we will wake them and hand them a spade

T is for Terraforming the rock and the sand

With our seeds and machines we will carve out our land

U is for Under-decks, full of pipes, valves, and steam

Workers covered in soot polish each till they gleam

W is for Wagon Master, who has power and clout

If we don't like him we can just vote him right out

X is for Xenos, who we know don't exist

Yet stories of little green men still persist

Z is for Zorica, the day-star of old

She spins round and round under Danica's hold