DISCLAIMER: The Star Trek characters are the property of Paramount Studios, Inc. The poem is the creation and property of M. L. "Steve" Barnes and is copyright (c) 1972 by M. L. "Steve" Barnes. Originally published in Grup #1, edited by Carrie Brennan.

Koon-ut-Kali-Fee

M. L. "Steve" Barnes

The blood of a thousand Vulcans

Is pooled here in my veins,

Its call strikes fire in my heart

Renewing the ancient drive,

And I am compelled unwillingly

To seek a mate ... or die.

The seed for unnamed galaxies

Is locked here in my loin,

But the price I pay for its release

Is bitter to the mind.

For pride is taken from me,

The logic is stripped away,

And the fever that rises in me

Threatens all who stand in my way.

The red mist before my eyes

Blinds me to any man,

Friend or foe are all alike

In the agony of this time.

I see only the tapered ear

Against the sanguine sky,

Hear only the touch of her thoughts

As they echo in my mind.

Across the width of the universe

I've returned to these blood-warm sands,

To seek ... to find ... to posses,

That the future may be born.