(for Nathan Fillion)
You can hear the Reaper whisper as you’re drilling through the black
Hauling widgets to the second moon of five,
And you know that he’ll be on you if you ever turn your back,
But for now you’ve never felt so much alive.
There is no home behind you; the Alliance saw to that,
And no safe refuge waits for you ahead-
Just an endless string of mudballs that the ‘formers have knocked flat
And a cold and lonely coffin when you’re dead.
But Serenity’s still flying, and that’s all that matters now,
And everything you care about is here;
Cause the people who aren’t with you just don’t matter, anyhow,
And stuff just finds a way to disappear.
Oh, it’s luck and guile and patience and no small amount of sweat-
Cause it’s sure not just the physics makes her fly.
.And one day you’ll die together, but it hasn’t happened yet,
And for now you own this little piece of sky.
Yes, it’s sweat and blood and courage and no small amount of love
That lets Serenity keep flying free.
So let the Reaper whisper, ’cause when push comes to shove,
There’s simply no place else you’d rather be.
Paul Haynie
10/26/2002