My friend Barb Edler and I both made spooky posts Saturday. Barb’s post was about the possibility of aliens returning after their suspected driveway visit when her oldest son was a baby. Mine was about loss of sleep because of messages in a sound machine (probably possessed by evil spirits, because its twin is working fine).
All of this gnawed on my brain last night when the whatifs* started spinning on the midnight merry-go-round of my mind…..what if a tree falls on the campsite and crushes us right here in the camper? What if somebody up the hill forgot to chock their tires and their camper slides down the hill in the middle of the night and lands on us? What if a rogue tornado pops up and slings us all the way to Alabama? What if aliens invade Pine Mountain?
Aliens.
And then that whatif gobbled and swallowed my whole frontal lobe with a poem.
What Do I Do?
what do I do
if aliens
land here
and
the whole
campground
nudges me
forward
to greet
the spaceship,
elects
me their
spokesperson
like some
Hunger Games
tribute?
what do I do
when the ramp
door lowers
to the ground
smoke spilling
out against
the backlit
silhouettes
of aliens
the
expressionless
kind
with big heads
huge eyes
and knobby
knees?
what do I do
when they
confront me
and stop
toe to toe
face to face
expecting a
word or a
welcome or a
warning?
what do I do
when I start
wondering
if this is
what the
Indian
Removal
Act felt like
for those
pushed off
their own
planet?
what do I do
when it looks
like they
start
speculating
about
the speed
of all
our little
earth-anchored
sewer-hosed
spaceships
with lights
over the
doors?
what do I do
when I feel
like the fly
before the
spider says
step into
my parlor?
what do I do?
I do
what I do
best
I invite them
into my teardrop
to read
poetry
and sip
tea
*with a nod to Shel Silverstein for the whatifs in his ear
Images generated by Gemini
Common Threads 
Kim, I love a good spooky story, and in fact have wanted to write a collection of ghost stories; already have a few. Your sharing of the creative process here – how a poem is born of things “gnawing on the brain” and then the idea of “whatif” swallowing your whole frontal lobe – is dead-on accurate, and the language, a perfect segue to the poem. There’s an atmosphere of lighthearted spookiness in all those incredibly vivid images, plus a real sense of anxiety nibbling at the back of my reader-brain: what WOULD Kim do? What would I do?? I was reading along, amused, enchanted, spellbound, when those lines about the Indian Removal Act and being “pushed off their own planet” shot like an arrow into my heart. Your ability to draw us in an make us feel such a vast range of emotions is amazing. Your brain is a wonder. I hope the aliens realize and respect it and tamper not. Those photos — fantastic!
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Thank you so much, Fran. Your kind words and encouragement are always heartfelt and appreciated. I love your idea of a collection of ghost stories. I think I’m so enchanted by this because ghost stories…..are really angel stories. Guardian stories. Messages for the present and future from the past. Mysteries, realities, where the afterlife irons out the wrinkles of time even if for a moment to shed shimmery satin light on something we need to know. Keep up that collection!
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I just so happen to be writing a bit about angels tomorrow. 🙂
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Loved your post today!
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While most of this is just a fun, alien story. You managed to weave in some important reminders of how the Native Americans surely felt when the Europeans landed, took over their lands, and they landed up being pushed aside (land pun intended). Well done
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Thank you, Anita!
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Kim,
Of course you invite the aliens in to read poetry. They better write some, too. Your mind is that of a teacher the night before returning to school on Monday. All the scenarios of what if that can go wrong. But for me the best part of the poem is the acknowledgment of how Native Americans must have felt being “forced off their planet.” I thought about the destruction of their sacred lands a lot this past week as we drove along I-40. More about that later this week. I just love how a poem is born from so many things—everything—in life, even paranoia.
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Glenda, thank you for reading. I, too, thought about a lot of this when we were on Rt. 66 last summer and so many towns had the Native American influence. My great great maternal Grandmother was a Cherokee who walked the Trail of Tears, according to my late mother. I think often of the despair.
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Kim, what a fascinating poem and thought process. I love the playfulness and then the profound and important empathetic question about what it would have been like for the Indian Removal. The images AI created for you are so funny!
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Thank you, Denise. I was impressed with Gemini’s art return – – it was exactly as I pictured, minus the human I asked for and never got.
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So many interesting threads woven through your slice. I fully relate to the ‘whatifs’ but I find it hard to wrap my head around aliens (why do they always have enormous heads?!). Such a fun poem that we can relate to in Australia just as well. We have all messed up in so many ways.
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Ha! Yes, I wonder why their heads are so big, too. Thanks so much for reading! It’s great we can relate whether we are in the US, Europe, Australia, or Asia…..we are all one earth!
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The fact that you have a teardrop style camper makes such a lovely poetry line “invite them into my teardrop” – there is a double entendre there, when coupled with fear of an alien invasion. I adore your observation/prediction of “
huge eyes
and knobby
knees
Wonderful that your nightmarish thoughts turned into this fun poem! Happy camping, Kim!
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Thank you, Maureen! I went back in and added teardrop later 🙂 Thanks so much for reading!
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Oh, Kim, I am laughing with delight while reading your spectacular poem. So many what ifs and you end it with the perfect solution. Yes, let’s greet our visitors with poetry! Your choice of images is also outstanding. Love seeing those strange guys roasting marshmallows. BTW, have you ever watched Resident Alien? It’s a complete hoot!
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Barb, I’m adding it to the list. I was amazed at what Gemini returned in the artwork. Thanks so much for the inspiration!
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Oh, so fun! I love your speculation about how the visit could go. One stanza I particularly enjoyed reading was the one about the ramp door coming down–the descriptive details are so vivid! And of course, I loved the ending–inviting them to share tea and poetry sounds like the absolute most perfect way to handle an alien invasion.
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Thank you!
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