I

When I left, we both promised we’d wait

While I worked the mines of perseus 8

As I watched another worker got flayed and dismembered

to my dismay, that’s when I remembered

I

Near light-speed travel expands local space time,

So one year for me, is twelve years for you

By the time I’d return, and feel the earth’s sunshine

You’ll be just two months shy of seventy-two

        II

        I know that you’ve already realized this

        We were both quite young and dim

        But I’m mining this plasma, and clenching my fist

        To distract from the mold colonizing my skin

        I have less than a quarter of my own DNA

        I’m  more protozoa than man

        But I’m on break from mining, and I had to say

        I have to assume this is going according to plan

I

And I feel quite the fool, as I left in your name

Any credit I’d saved, If I lived not to claim

The pension I earned, from this toil and grind

Fighting off cave bats that feed on my mind

I

And digging for ore that howls in the gloom

And as you carry it back, whispers and hums

Tells you dark tales of mayhem, conflict and doom

But you get accustomed, as you grow numb

        II

        I know that you’ve already realized this

        I should have read the fine print

        But I’m hauling this ore, and clenching my fist

        As tendrils of slime drip down my chin

        Bombarded by particles, exotic and rare

        I’ve become Much more mushroom than man

I complained to the foreman, but he didn’t care

I have to assume this is going according to plan

I

Enjoy the fruits of my toils, without any shame

My hands have no fingers I could point at you

Still I wish I had not put the accounts in both names

Is a thought that still lingers, as I dissolve into goo

I

C GG7 C

F->Dm C->Am

F G C A7

D G G7

II

F G C->Am
F G Am
Dm E7  Am->C
F  G C G
Dm G7 Am F
E7 Am

F  G   C Am
F  G  G7 C