Other Side of the Sun
I've cried the tears ...
I've suffered the years ...
I've tasted the fears ...
Of a spaceman hurtling through the void
Loneliness grows daily on the inside,
as I continue this autopilot ride
to the other side of the sun
This tritainium space ship moves swiftly
towards our sun's nearest relative
Alpha Centauri ... destination of my personal glory
I forsook family and friends,
to live a lonely existence in a metal cabin
in the vast wilderness of space
There are four other cosmonauts with me;
but they are asleep in cryostasis,
until we reach the end of this journey
Fusion moving to the other side of the sun
Being the lone human sentry,
I chose to sacrifice ... age my years naturally
on this long ten-year mission
No suspended animation, only a virtual companion
A computer generated voice of a Russian-accented woman,
paired with an attractive holographic image
to placate the intense loneliness of the vacuum
Her voice represents a New Age of Enlightenment,
vestiges of a new peace made between old enemies
In the year 2117, our mission represents this new peace offering
My war now is with the elements of the void:
a relentless solar wind that flings
microscopic particles that daily pierce our metal skin,
trying always to let deadly cosmic radiation in
But our white cell-like nanobytes work tirelessly to keep us safe
Nearing the unknown side of a new sun
In the ninth year, the last year of this exhausting space trip,
I start to dream of odd things ... old longings and new anxious moments
that soon await me
Noise of activity will shortly invade my quiet realm,
as I awake my fellow astronauts and robot work soldiers
Before we left to go on the other side of the sun,
to this new and strange alien one ...
I kissed my wife and three kids goodbye,
and told them to start a new life
For on the other side of the sun is where I will die
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