An Echo Of You Remained In The Transporter Buffer

An elegy for my stepmother, who passed away from ALS, based on a recurring dream I'd have of seeing her brought back to life in an episode of Star Trek The Next Generation via a transporter glitch.

Lyrics:

​
a glitch in the system
& you reappeared
not really a ghost
& not really here again
a pixelated whisper
lifelike afterimage
the memory of a song

security said to shoot you
the captain disagreed
the android believed in you
the whiz kid was intrigued
I made you laugh again
just like old times
singing along in dreams

It hurt like a movie
It ached like a dream
you stared at the galaxies
like a set of lost keys
and we drifted on
yeah we moved along
we moved along

it’s always night in space
but I couldn’t sleep
I guess I was hoping
just like before
for a last minute solve
but no one could fix you
nobody knew how

you materialized
above my bed
you could tell
you were coming apart
so you kissed my head
& then disintegrated
you were gone again

we float like on TV
sad as science fiction
I stare at the galaxies
lost in transition
warp factor ten
yeah we moved along
we moved along

all these miracles
& none of them could save you

• play
• pause
• min volume
• max volume

posted by eustacescrubb (3 comments total)

I'm sorry for your loss. Your love and longing shine in the song.
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 9:57 AM on May 4, 2018 [1 favorite]

Seconded, and this lyric is fucking great (in my humble), studded with bright jewels, as befits an open cluster - particularly love “pixelated whisper”, “you stared at the galaxies like a set of lost keys”, “sad as science fiction”, “it’s always night in space” - little brilliancies (in a bigger brilliancy).
posted by the quidnunc kid at 12:40 PM on May 8, 2018

Wow, thanks!
posted by eustacescrubb at 10:57 AM on May 9, 2018