Accession

Originally Appeared Here

Lightship comes through the wormhole, exciting the whole bridge
They've found an ancient mariner coming straight outta Coleridge(1,2)
Akorem's returned, but Don't call it a comeback(3)
Hasn't aged a day, and still as sharp as a thumbtack
Explains to the crew that he's the only true emissary
And the spare one from Earth will no longer be necessary
Releases authority without a bit of resistance
He won't make a fuss, he seeks peaceful coexistence(4)
Tries to ignore his visions, too many neuropeptides
But pretty soon he's wishin' that he'd never stepped aside
When a vedek is executed for ignoring his d'jarra
Destined for death or an appointment in Samarra(5)
And when Kira quits her post for a flock of flightless birds
My dad is left in shock and feeling quite disturbed
Thinks he's misguided like Sybok looking for a false God(6)
The prophets will sort out who's real, and which one's a fraud
Existing measureless to man, like Kubla Khan's Xanadu(7)
They'll restore this old poet to his own time and planet, too.
The people's faith in The Sisko remains undiminished
And Akorem's Call of the Prophets is finally finished

1. A reference to Samuel Taylor Coleridge's "Rime of the Ancient Mariner"
2. Also to N.W.A.'s "Straight Outta Compton"
3. From the first line of LL Cool J's "Mama Said Knock You Out"
4. Quote from Commander Remmick in TNG's "Conspiracy"
5. An old story about a man who tries to avoid Death, only to flee to the place Death expected to meet him. W. Somerset Maugham's version is available here.
6. In Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, Spock's half-brother commandeered the Enterprise after receiving visions from an entity in the center of the galaxy he believed to be God.
7. "Kubla Khan" was another poem by Coleridge. Similar to Akorem's "Call of the Prophets" (before he was sent back) it was unfinished.