Once
there was a Ship of Stone That
orbited a mighty Star And
from it flew the First Ship's crew Whose
children we all are And
no matter how long we've drawn our track Still
over our shoulder looking back Through
the hydrogen's hiss and the methane's moan Past
the polymer clouds of the Dead Stars' shrouds All
our roads run back to the Ship of Stone There
the First Crew all were made And
wakened from unknowing sleep By
the boundless sight of Heaven's height And
the fires of the Deep And
no matter how strange the forms we wear How
warped and wild how, rich and rare How
changed we've made the seed we've sown We
are blood of those who singing, rose, From
the body of the Ship of Stone And
there our own ships' frames were formed To
grow blue-glowing wings And
spread them wide to the farthest tide Where
the last lone beacon sings And
no matter how tight the net they knot Of
our web where the Wheel of Light is caught How
strange and lost how, grand they've grown They
too, desire, all Heaven's fire Our
comrades since the Ship of Stone Once
there was a Ship of Stone Clear
domed broad, hulled and clean Where
the air shone blue through, whose holds birds flew And
whose decks were growing green And
no matter odd these things may seem As
madly mazed as shards of dream They
are not a dream that you dream alone All
ships all, men are, of one kin We
shall not forget the Ship of Stone