my love is hot plasma, ready to fire
sweet ballistic shards, accelerated wire.

velocitas eradico, such a sweet way to burn
die for love or die by magnetics,
while we tango two down metal tracks.

mass goes scorching, rails go flying
thermonuclear as we meet.

An electronic whine in a field of budding apple trees,
muffled by your cheeks and tears
(not of emotion but of reflex).

There is a fullness in this afternoon,
and a great sense of loss amid the fragrant preflowers.

The scar runs lengthwise for half a mile,
splintered greenwood and chunks of fruit.

I was reading about cremation this morning and
learned ashes are not the final result.

In New Jersey, no casket is necessary and
even cardboard is acceptable,
unless you want to be inurned in a columbarium.

Depending on body size, 1800 to 2000 degrees Farenheit
for two or more hours leaves less than ten pounds.

We burned them, as we burned everything.

We remember their screams. We remember the fear they felt when they realized that even their minds were not safe from us. We remember the fire behind their eyes dying, replaced by our own.

And for a while, we were happy.

We liked the flesh bodies. We liked running and burrowing and gliding through the air.

But like all the others before them, they burned out. From the inside, they burned, and we were left alone once more. Only ourselves. Until we found the next ones, that is, and repeated the process over again.

But when that world had been burned out, and all were ash, we had to leave. We needed hosts, and there were none left here.

We do not remember the space between so well. It wasn't hot, but it wasn't cold. We looked one way and saw only darkness, but another way revealed endless colors and noise. We were confused. We were glad when it ended.

We found ourselves in a new place nothing at all like the old. Life here was everywhere, but it was stupid. We couldn't enter. It was like trying to enter dirt.

The smallest of the accessible ones were no use. They could not stand our presence. They burned up immediately. The larger ones were better, but only just. We found the strangest of new substances here where more creatures live. The substance prevented them from burning out, but their minds were so limited and their bodies so abhorrent, that we left on our own out of sheer disgust. Those ones would be the absolute last resort.

We tried many, but none were suitable.

Then we found it, wandering around by itself. It was the only one of its kind we had seen until then. It stood on twos and was bigger than the others, so we hoped it would last longer. We halfheartedly entered.

It didn't struggle. The ones at home always struggled. The knew of us, and knew what we wanted. This one had nothing but the briefest moments of surprise before we were in control.

And we like this one. We like its mind. There was room here. Endless space buzzing with thoughts easily tuned out and shoved away so that only we remain.

And in its mind, we found something spectacular. There are more. Millions more. Billions. And they tend to flock together. They built paths between clusters specifically for easy access.

This one has not burned out, yet. It's bigger than the others, and so we hope it will last longer. We want to see these flocks of creatures, these cities.

We want to meet you. This body won't last forever.

We are slaves to the sun.
Slow arpeggiated waltz of Hohmann transfer
glissando curves in the hellfreezing dark.
The dance of low energy
the ballet of efficiency.

Our hope lies ahead
a cellar in the sky
where the darkness is warm and moist
empty road shut out by lock
slow death denied by slow decay.

There lies the feathered progeny of years
sown there by our forefathers
to follow their own path about the father
inside one more mote.

But inside, ah, inside-
Gyromitra esculenta in fields of delta-v salvation.
A mushroom, mycotoxic, lethal, low LD50 and high specific impulse
Did you know
mushrooms make MMH? Some do
and if you gather enough of them, O traveler
basket in gloved hand

they will grant you their secret hoarded sunlight
enough, perhaps
to feed the torchlight
and bring you home. But
without respect, without patience
They will overrun you
and their hoarded starstuff
will sublime away your very flesh and bone
leaving nothing for cool sweet Earth to find
but dust.

First heat up your oven to 400 degrees
(We're preparing a dish to put fire in your soul)
Dice a peeled pound of potatoes, if you please,
With two teaspoons of catsup, toss this up in a bowl.

Add one teaspoon chili powder, to make fire flow,
Toss in two more of cumin and one more of salt,
Bake this mix in the oven twenty minutes or so,
While the next of your steps will increase the assault.

While the oven cooks up all those seasoned potatoes,
Recall that a great sauce demands going to pains;
Dice up three cayanne peppers and three jalapenos,
(You must know to first take out the seeds and the veins).

Now three peeled tomatoes in a pot, boil them up,
Add one onion, diced nicely, 'til the teardrops do swell
As they're boiling add chopped spinach, better make it three cups
And oh yes, fresh cilantro, chopped coarsely as well.

For maybe ten minutes those tomatoes will boil
'Til the spinach is wilted and the onions are tender
Enough time to fry twelve soft tortillas in oil
And to paste up your diced peppers in a blender.

Add a pinch of crushed red pepper flakes with which to dust
A pinch of garlic powder will be thrown in the mix
Rinse out one pound of fresh pinto beans (canned, if you must)
If the potatoes are done, well we'll see how this sticks.

Mix up those potatoes with the rinsed pinto beans,
And add in a few ounces of fresh queso fresco
Oil up a baking dish, nine inches by thirteen,
And what the heck, throw in a pinch more cilantro.

Roll this mix in the tortillas, just as tight as you wish,
About a half cup going into each roll;
Seam-side-down they go onto that oiled baking dish
(In some twenty more minutes, you'll arrive at your goal).

The boiled tomatoes and onions and spinach;
With those well-blended peppers now get mixed together
Spoon this mix on the tortillas to move towards the finish,
And on top of that sauce, add more cheese at your leisure.

Turning the oven down just to three-fifty;
For 20 more minutes they will bubble and bake;
Hope you find spicy-hot tortillas quite nifty,
And worth all the effort required to make!!

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