(A belated continuation of the Picture Dictionary series.)
S is for Starport
Where great ships take flight.
They climb to the stars,
On pillars of light.
T is for Transcend
The home of the Powers.
No gods in the heavens,
And so we made ours.
U is for Uplifts
Potential made real.
With clearness of mind,
To think and to feel.
V is for Virtual
Dream-worlds brought forth.
From shadows we conjure
All things that have worth.
(It’s been a while since I’ve worked on this project, for one reason or another, starting with being somewhat blocked on Q. If you’re a relatively new reader who’s never seen the previous entries, therefore, I suggest clicking on the “picture dictionary” tag, at the bottom of the post, to see them all.)
P is for Planets,
Life’s havens in space.
They once were our cradle,
The home of each race.
Q is for Quanta,
The tiniest things!
Quarks and neutrinos,
Photons and strings!
R is for Robots
Which work all the day.
To keep our worlds running,
And failure at bay.
(Yes, I know the physics limps a bit in the middle one. You try making rhyming couplets for posthuman three-year-olds…)
I think we’ve hit upon the subtitle for the published version of the picture dictionary, too, by the way.
(That was it.)
M is for Markets,
one thing for another.
When trading together,
each soph is your brother.
N is for Nanolathe,
your tools in your hand.
Making and fixing,
Each at your command.
O is for Obligator,
a binder of oath.
When each keeps a promise,
it benefits both.
J is for Junklight,
the glow in the sky.
Thousands of stations
shine as they pass by.
K is for Kinesis,
to move with the will.
A thought made a deed
while the body is still.
L is for Lighthugger
the fastest of ships.
For beyond the Worlds’ edge,
the longest of trips!
G is for Galaxy
a whirlpool of stars.
A trillion new worlds
to shape and make ours.
H is for Habitats
our islands in space.
Skyfarms and cities
each orbits in place.
I is for Immortagens
life without end;
captured in a bottle
to give to our friends.
D is for Digisapience
a thinking machine.
A mind forged from metal
with light-woven dreams.
E is for Exoself
your thoughts in the air.
Working your will
even while you’re not there.
F is for Forking
making many from one.
On days when we’re busy
it helps get things done.
A is for Antimatter,
the Sun in a Jar.
It powers the ships
that carry us far.
B is for Bactry
where little makers live.
All the world’s built
on the feedstock they give.
C is for Cornucopia
the Creation Machine.
Assembling atoms to plan
making real every dream…
These letters taunt me.
…some part of me wants the picture for this entry to be a very bright star in the sky, as an antimatter torch deceleration burn would appear from planetary ground, with three shepherds and a camel looking up at it.
And that’s why I’m going to hell this week.
Woke up this morning with an uncontrollable urge to write an in-universe children’s picture dictionary book.
So that’s what I’m doing.
Damn unruly muses.