Surface Tension

"As strong as the top of the sky. And above that - once the bubble was broken - a world of gas instead of water?

Were all worlds bubbles of water drifting in gas?

 

…… "'We have crossed space,' Lavon repeated softly."

 

Surface Tension (short story)

James Blish

1952

 

Surface Tension

(An Amoeban Dream)

 

The crystal-clear amoeba lifts

upon volcanic thermal rifts.

Its cilia pulsate and spin

towards the sky; igneous rim.

 

But then it falters for an instant;

seeks the light

forever distant,

pushes on towards its goal,

its world’s end, its very soul.

 

It twists towards the next illusion;

a higher temperature diffusion.

And finally, it gathers strength,

reaches impenetrable fence,

yet pushes to the next dimension -

Overcoming Surface Tension!

By Alan Dickie