Colin

©2002 by Steve Macdonald

Gather ’round, listen to me
I am Colin O’Shaunessey
I’ve baked bread all of my life
Spent my nights with pint and pipe

I had a twin, Patrick by name
He settled down many planets away
He and I were the last of our line
Joined at birth, his life to mine

When Patrick died I was
Shown his thoughts and his cares
For the Banshee came and she
Howled his life to the air

I knew then all that he knew
The Colony was harried and doomed
A knock at my door shook my reverie
Grabbed and bound, the Governor to see

I was questioned and
Probed, and I told all I knew
Then imprisoned and barred
Uncertain, my fear grew

I learned then what I was to be
My pain and death would send the Banshee
My brothers death gave me what I knew
My torture and end would send to him, too

I had died many
Thousand times before
There are copies of Patrick
Copies of me kept in store

Then I saw vats- face after face
Mirrored me in every case
Row after row, clone after clone
To talk to my brother so far from home

Bound to the Chair, they used
Drugs to program my mind
A painful death they need
Using needles and knives

My last breath, and there I see
The deadly face of the family Banshee
Off she goes, out beyond space
To tell my brother I’ve ended my race

All I learned will be
Used to save them out there
My body lies broken
My spirit leaves the Chai…

>>silence<<

Gather ’round, listen to me
I am Colin O’Shaunessey
I’ve baked bread all of my life
Spent my nights with pint and pipe