072319

Dibs

A young man stood there when we left the ship,

His half a smile proclaimed “I got here first.”

You’re welcome to my world, he said, and bowed,

Just sign these papers, here and also here,

Now, to the matter of the landing fee,

Your payment must be made in local coin,

Alas, I can’t accept your IOU,

Your ship will stand in for your surety.

We wondered if he was a native wight,

And how he’d learned the English tongue, if so,

Seattle’s where I hail from, near enough,

I came here when the crowding got too bad,

See, this whole world’s my homestead, every bit,

Your ship’s impounded, true, but you’re in luck

You work the land, you’ll get it back some day.