( Note: there is no actual music playing. Think of it as music floating down the hallway, from another room, as you read this. )
[ background music: “Traveling down to Rio” by Michael Nesmith, from the video ‘Elephant Parts’ ]
I sit by my window,
on the port side of this starship,
I travel down to the Magellanic Clouds next year,
but tonight I’ll just take a whimsical notion,
and take a journey across the multi-universes.
Ya haveta watch out for the Slan and the Bolos,
last time they tried playing tiddlywinks,
in the Multi-Dimensional Tiddlywinks Playoffs,
they took out eleventy-dozen parsecs,
during the first turn,
and forgot to put it all back.
A generation ship, or so I hear,
is no fun way to travel,
unless Commodore Grimes is in charge,
but you better bring an extra change of clothing,
he stops so many places and times,
just crossing a solar system,
it seems only he has the luck of it.
I, and the rest of the crew and passengers,
are doing our best to forget,
the system, or universe, or what it ever it may be,
over yonder, and a quarter turn thata way,
that is composed of zillions of gigantic mirror balls,
each along the edge,
of a nice quiet lake,
no planets,
just lakes,
except the water is full of megaladons,
and other assorted beasties.
I mean, there we sat, on the Group W starship,
and the sign on the wall of that universe said,
“Lunch Lake Universe. You might go somewheres else !”
It was only a whimsical notion,
to take that quarter turn,
but not anymore.
The other one that seemed kinda strange,
was just the biggest sailing ship any of us had ever seen,
traveling along through a dark void,
they said we should help them with some string they had,
the stars should be along just any millennia now.
But we hopped the next wavicle,
and took off for the Down the South Galaxy Way Dimension,
where there are dances every night,
down by the beach,
no sharks, land or otherwise, allowed,
straw hats, swim suits, and drinks galore,
the music is sublime,
it has a good beat,
most anybody, even me,
can dance to it.
We coasted through the dimension,
or maybe it was just a strange thing along the way,
of a universe full of bicycles and rowboats,
with oars trailing in the interstellar aether,
with blinking phosphorescent lights making pathways,
amongst the stars.
I forget which universe was next,
it was either the All Dancing All Singing Penguins,
or it was the quiet as dormice lions, tigers, and parking meters.
The lions and tigers were the meter maids,
bad place for your time to run out,
the parking meters probably didn’t have enough butter.
Then there was the guy,
who wanted to sell me the moon,
his had a destination there,
it was 1999, something about,
he was going on a space odyssey,
Morbious and his daughter,
( Kiss ? What is a kiss ? )
wanted to go along for the ride,
with some Boy and his Dog,
who had a picture of a Crooked House,
that was kinda blurry, hurt your eyes to look at it.
The Hills were Green, but not on Earth,
some guy who spoke of Fahrenheit, he was Fond of it,
he had 9 Plans that spoiled in the rain,
like a green icing cake.
Some places I try to forget,
some places I try to remember,
they had no wine,
what they did have,
they sold before its time.
[ Exeunt ]