Fen, Don't Let Your Children Grow Up to be Mundane

Oh, fen, don't let your children ( ) grow up to be mundane.
For it's a great mistake, and it will surely cause you pain.
So learn, if you will tarry and hearken unto me,
(Why it's) a fannish obligation to raise fannish progeny.

Some kindergarten teachers ( ) are strictly of a mind
That coloring with crayons should remain within the lines.
But raise your kids subversive and they'll neatly draw a scene
Of fields of red and purple grass beneath a sky of green.

If they take after you, and if you're like most fen I've met,
Your kids will not conform to all the others in their set,
But they'll have learned in fandom, if you bring them up this way,
That different isn't wrong, and even weird can be OK.

As cycles turn and far stars burn, and fen and fandom age,
Our weekend-only world must die, or turn another page.
And so each Jedi Knight must find himself a padawan
To train as his successor, and to bear the saber on.

And if you have no children and you think you never will,
This fannish obligation is incumbent on you still
(For) your nieces and your nephews and the other kids you know,
To offer them your guidance and a model as they grow.

And now you've heard my reasons and the lesson I would teach.
Enough is quite enough, and I'd far rather filk than preach.
So raise the flag of fandom, raise your voice with me, and then
Go out into Mundania and raise a crop of fen!