I – Foreign Travel
I’m glad to know you’re here
Yet I can’t tell where here is
This cruise ship is so huge, so modern
But the spherical shape feels odd
The lack of windows
No dining room
Not that I’m complaining
The pills you provide are fabulous
One gulp and I’m full
I never go to the john anymore
Not that I’ve seen one
I do get lost sometimes, and
Can’t recall when we left
Are we out to sea days or months?
I’m not saying it isn’t great fun
Fine art everywhere, brilliant cityscapes
Spiraling beneath those gorgeous suns
Still there are moments my tummy aches
Just under those oval scars, can’t think when I got them
And your presence means the world to me
Another Brooklynite. All the way out here!
You know so much about me
More than I know myself
I love the way you speak
Hearing your words without moving lips;
Another sign of our closeness
The staff couldn’t be nicer
They never talk either but
I completely understand them
I’m so grateful, though they refuse my tips
Just like Mar-a-Lago
I guess I should be bored but I’m not
The black dreams are troublesome
But your explanations calm me
Now you tell me we’re going to stop.
I’d love to sightsee, I would
But in the rush I didn’t bring my passport
And I do want to get home
Someone I know needs me, I think
For the ticket back
Do you think they’ll take my credit card?
II – Correcting Close Encounters
We never vivisect
Only dissect
Have not pulled people off planet for generations
Our ships no longer saucers, our
Purposes not military
Only scientific
We research evolutionary error
A splendid pastime for
Excess labor and young delinquents
We did stop their experiments
On your devices and favored media
Their actions defy our prime directive:
Only link to intelligent species
Your protests can be sent to Imperial Headquarters
But first you’ll have to find it
III – The Watchers
You don’t know us
We do know you
Have had you in view
Before you got new
Found you through your flyers
Your dreams are finer than your finest arts:
War and reproduction
Surplus and seduction
Your conflicts visual repasts
Red blood white sand black bones
Hearts stuffed with stones
Hatred your erotic fantasy
You reach for stars
Look high and can’t see
What you are and will be
Do not trust the saucer folk
We will protect you from them
Not you from yourselves