poem Number 29

Number 29

Option One: Abduction

Television shows like South Park and rock bands like Blink-182 and The Killers have all taken on the subject of abduction with great success. Imagine being abducted – it doesn’t have to be by aliens. You could be abducted by spiders, or cardinals, or friends from high school. How do you react? What happens? How are you changed when you return?

Option Two: Other Worlds

When we think of aliens, we often think of other planets, other worlds that have evolved far away from ours and usually with advances in technology that we do not yet have. For this poem, imagine living in a world that is either utterly advanced in technology or one that has no technology at all. How does either of these scenarios impact relationships? Education? Culture? Start with an imaginative spark and see where it takes you.

It seems like forever since I saw the lights

saw the earth from space

was placed in this acrylic tube that

looks out onto your acrylic tube

I swear I saw you blink

heard you think at me

I swear I've never seen anything more beautiful

those wonderful butterfly wings

I'm sure that you view me a hideous

admiring only my thumbs

sometimes I get lost in our collective dreams

the swirling of light and color

the odd harmonics of philosophies bouncing off one another

I dream

I dream only of you

since they day I was collected

cataloged and mounted

the lobster children point and stare

at the ugliness of the earth-man

and all I care about is you

species 1813547-E

with your translucent skin

luminescent eyes

and beautiful wings

you are a picture in a magazine

a painting by Julie Bell

we will only meet in dreams

captives in time