Spending Sixpence

I don’t have time for rainbows
Or poetry or dreams
My vision is the Company’s
I’m here to drill out seams.

You know nothing’s forever
Not even this Moon’s face
We’re gouging out new features for
Tomorrow’s human race.

My dad grew up with
That whole Apollo thing
I guess his heart would break
To see what’s happening
We’re mining water ice
Rare earths to ship Earthside
We need whatever’s here
And we won’t ever be denied

So don’t trot out your moonbeams
Your sentimental plea
It’s time this boulder paid its way
That’s good enough for me.

Dad used to tell me
Of how, when he was young
He thought his Moon was like
A sixpence heaven-hung
Now look how far we’ve come
Back on the Moon to stay
We need whatever’s here
And nothing should stand in our way

So don’t quote me your love songs
Don’t shake your New Age head
We’re spending my dad’s sixpence now
It’s just as well he’s dead.
We’re spending my dad’s sixpence now
There’s no more to be said.