With apologies to Heinlein...
On Earth, once more, shall we seek the prize
That she alone possesses
The cool green hills, under fleecy skies
And the healing winds' caresses
Green hills, oh, once again
Let me rest my eyes on the homes of men
Green hills, let me land once more
On the cool green hills of Terra
The flooded jungles of Venus crawl
With moulds and with foul diseases
We flee the rot in each raindrop's fall
And retch at her tainted breezes
The harsh, bright soil of the lunar seas
The plains, sharp-edged and airless
A sterile world that will burn and freeze
And deal swift death to the careless
The ice that tumbles in crystal braids
Of ever-changing pattern
Has lured and captured a thousand shades
In the rainbow rings of Saturn
The frozen blackness of Titan's night
In swirling fog enshrouded
With Sol perpetually out of sight,
And in noxious vapours clouded
The ancient beauty of Martian lands
That beneath our cities languish
The Grand Canal, and the rust-red sands
And a dying race's anguish
The spinning space motes that ring the sun
In belts of cosmic gravel
Extract their toll for each hard-wrung ton
In months of weary travel
The lights recede on the Terran plains
As we lift on wings of fire
The blood sings free in our weightless veins
And the skies are all our desire
So out we push, through the depths of space
Our drive jets fiercely burning
The sons of Earth are a restless race
And yet ... we dream of returning
Notes:
Still a bit of a work in progress, insofar as I have no idea how to best order
the verses. I was thinking two verses for every chorus, but that's fluid too.
Suggestions welcomed.