Cosmic Samba
by Brian Landis
We hauled ass
accelerating out of sector 001
the human home star
The pain of lift-off is balanced
by freedom from the gravity well
and briefly, age
Good men will always look for the queen of outer space
act dumb
and be amazed
when we find her
A woman's event horizon
is deeper than any anomaly
The engines of perception
manifested alternaties
Our crew fell out of meditation
into the Tau Ceti system
switched on sub-space radio
and listened to the distant, melancholy hiss
of Sol, fusioning
Inanimate, sleeping in the timeless night
we dreamed
of wildflower garotas
one-half child, one-half woman
firm and lissome
small breasted
apple-bottomed
feline and hallucinogenic
Between us
a secret code of glances
inflections
shrugs
pouts
All beat and mood and sex
Dreamed.
Flung 'round the sun
of Tau Ceti One
A hammock sways
We make love Indian style
with panache
witty and fluent
slow and hip-swaying
In the enchanted city of Nepenthe
night has more than twelve hours
Dreamed.
Of evolution
of primordial goo
on Tau Ceti Two
A long voluptuary trance
a ritual narcissism
the invention of eros
stronger than caritas
In the early morning
phonographs play in windows
Newspaper kiosks are just opening
We pick white roses
on the way to the beach
Love and roses and tanga
Simple
Dreamed.
Of men like me
on Tau Ceti Three
Fancy costumes
a percussion band
a bass drum
a great piston
Our hips begin to thrust
We treat everything lightly
and engage a troupe of sweet-sellers
silver boys and golden girls
who choreograph a private promenade, singing
"Tomando semen, voce vai ficar bacana"
"If you drink semen, you'll become beautiful"
Dreamed.
A prickly shore
on Tau Ceti Four
If you are in love with one
who is not in love with you
pour rum on a tree base
set three candles
write your love-slaves name
on the back
of a photo of yourself
burn it
You will be together shortly
We awaken.
Brought back alive
From Tau Ceti Five
Void masters
from a wild, wild planet
just passing through
Tomorrow
we'll work in the garden
About the Author
Brian Landis is a Jungian therapist practicing in San Luis Obispo, CA. He is an adherent of Tassajara Zen Mountain Center and a psychonaut who knows that folding mind is easier than folding spacetime. Brian is a published poet and has been a fan of the SF genre his entire reading life. He blames it on Tom Corbett, Space Cadet.
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