That old sorcerer has vanished
And for once has gone away!
Spirits called by him, now banished,
My commands shall soon obey.
Every step and saying
That he used, I know,
And with sprites obeying
My arts I will show.

Flow, flow onward
Stretches many
Spare not any
Water rushing,
Ever streaming fully downward
Toward the pool in current gushing.

Come, old broomstick, you are needed,
Take these rags and wrap them round you!
Long my orders you have heeded,
By my wishes now I've bound you.
Have two legs and stand,
And a head for you.
Run, and in your hand
Hold a bucket too...

( Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, first three stanzas)

---

I jiggled that outside pump (the one connected to the sump),
and heard a faint hum, from foul motor deep in that dump,
Yucky water, a smell that hurt, gray waters lowered down to the dirt.

The GreenHab came alive, the pumps whirring, the filters trickling,
but soon that hot, besotted cabin was flowing, flooding,
waters from tank two rushing into three, now brimming steadily!

My fate was clear, the GreenHab floor would soon be green,
and I the commander caught with too much water recycling,
this place would be wasted, then sealed like Chernobyl.

Knowing twas likely wrong, I had no choice but to move water,
I grabbed a big red bucket and dipped into the algae tank,
so moved three's water into four, eyeing still the waters rising.

A switch somewhere? Flip the circuits? And what then might I destroy?
Oh fiendish task, here left alone, my reputation caught, just keep sloshing.
All tanks' were rising, and gushing through those white plastic pipes--
trickle indeed! It flushed like Niagara from big black drums, and into tank one
then flushing more, where for a week I saw empty, now the pools united
and raced to flood tank three.

So slowly, with panic near, a mind to switch the damn thing off,
the torrent slowed to a trickle from tank one and two, and three leveled off.
Oh joy, a reprieve, tank four starts to fill!
I brushed the screen, and maybe that helped.

Only then I noticed my toilet supply tank (the Tee-Ess-Tee)
laid a tad too low, and forgetting my first mistake, I jiggled its float.
And that pump, too, which Liam had fixed there, came quickly on,
with a hose flowing now from four to TST, a yellow-covered bin, well filled.
Surprise, my eyebrows rose, the pump shut off, as the TST was done.

Tank five was still low and no trickles came in,
But tank four was filling, not yet, but close.
And that bugger who scared me, who nearly washed my feet,
tank three lay lower, brim clear of debris.

I thought of writing Tony, "Things you heard about but didn't understand during the crew handover."
Or maybe sending notes to Gary, "Your GreenHab is saved!"
Yet maybe I ruined tanks four and three?

Of robots and agents, and GreenHab desecrations,
What have we done, I fear our creations.
Next year come handover day, I surely will listen,
Never again caught with sludge gushing away!

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

See him, toward the shore he's racing
There, he's at the stream already,
Back like lightning he is chasing,
Pouring water fast and steady.
Once again he hastens!
How the water spills,
How the water basins
Brimming full he fills!

Stop now, hear me!
Ample measure
Of your treasure
We have gotten!
Ah, I see it, dear me, dear me.
Master's word I have forgotten!