Part II
It all started on a warm summer night.
In bed, a loud noise made me awaken.
I almost drifted back to sleep but now heard
The sound of wind, and trees being shaken.
Grandpa was asleep as well. I wondered
If our boat was tied securely enough.
So I decided to go down to the lake
To secure it if the waves were rough.
At the dock a strong wind was blowing
Though it was June I shivered in the chill.
But I felt even colder when I saw
That the water was absolutely still.
Suddenly from the woods across the lake
There came an intense light from the skies.
It was pulsating and so very bright
That I almost had to cover my eyes.
Everything inside me screamed, “Run!”
From that howl which felt like a blast
Of Arctic air, and that unearthly light,
Descending through the air so very fast.
But something about that baleful glow--
What, to this day I still don't quite know--
Was calling me like a moth to the flame.
Toward that distant beam I had to go.
I stumbled more than ran through the dark
And crept up to the light as close as I dared.
And then I saw in a large clearing
A sight which made me even more scared.
There in the mist something enormous stood….
It stretched two hundred feet from tip to tip.
It was unbelievable but true:
I was staring at an alien spaceship!
Excited, I almost walked right up
To say hello by banging on its side.
But a wise little voice inside me
Warned me that it would be better to hide.
Then that laser-like light switched off
And the wind quieted to a moan
And it was then I could feel my skin crawl
For I knew that I was no longer alone.
Dark forms were gathering in the clearing,
And strange equipment now covered the ground.
I heard the low whirr of machinery,
Followed by a new and hideous sound.
My boyhood in the country had taught me
All the voices with which nature spoke,
And the horrible tones I heard that night
Were never made by any forest folk.
Imagine the click of a crab’s claws
Combined with the cries and chirps of a bird;
Throw in the throaty growl of a tiger
And you’ll have an idea what I heard.
This extraterrestrial din went on
I really couldn't tell you how long.
For five minutes—an hour—forever:
It was an alien cacophonous song.
Just when I thought that my suffering brain
Couldn't take these hellish shrieks any more,
They were replaced by a buzz, then a hum
That slowly rose like waves on the shore.
Imagine my shock after all that
To suddenly hear then, clear as a bell,
And whoever it was spoke it well.
I almost leapt into the clearing again,
So filled was I with happy relief.
But as I listened more closely to the words,
I began to hear a strange tone beneath.
Then I realized exactly what it was,
And my blood turned just as cold as ice:
It was no natural human voice that spoke,
But an alien translating device!
I heard: “So we’ve crossed vast gulfs of space
to reach this world, the home of humanity.
Now, brothers, to launch our fiendish plot
Designed precisely to cause a calamity!”
“Though their civilization is primitive now
these bipeds have such imagination,
That, if they keep on at their present pace
they’ll become the lords of all creation!”
”And so we’ve devised a clever scheme
To stop them before they’ve even begun.
We’ll quench that dangerous fire in their minds!
Brothers, it shall all be such devilish fun!”
“Now make ready the infernal machines!
Check well the tubes, screens, buttons and wires!
Every part of the plan must work without fail
If we are to achieve all that we desire.”
Oh how the darkness came alive then,
With a scurrying, scuttling, bustling stir;
An opening and closing of machinery;
A mysterious mechanical whir!
After ages their task seemed finished;
The clearing was now filled with boxy shapes.
I strained to see more but could not—
All was in such deep shadows draped.
“At long last Project Pandora is ready,”
croaked the alien in our human tongue.
“We’ll fill their heads with such nonsense,
their civilization will become unstrung!”
Although the summer evening was warm,
These mysterious threats made me cold.
I could not understand but I sensed
Surely no good for our kind could it hold.
“But enough of this vile human jabber,
High time for the brainwashing to begin.
If these devices work as we have planned,
There’s no way that these bipeds can win!”
As the alien was speaking I looked up
And saw that the sky was now faint pink;
Then made the mistake of looking down again,
And I quite lost the power to think.
The clearing was still mercifully dim
But I glimpsed enough to never forget—
A horrible Frankensteinian mishmash,
Of fur, scales, and tentacles shiny wet.
My mind went absolutely blank then
And I shut my eyes as tightly as I could.
I prayed to the Lord to please save me,
To deliver me from this haunted wood.
And perhaps God heard me, for after that
I collapsed on the ground in exhaustion.
I only vaguely sensed their departure,
Along with the earth’s quiet convulsion.