At a local arts center, I met a talented young woman who was creating a zine and seeking contributors. The theme was “aliens.” So, early this year, I wrote a series of poems that were from the perspective of alien lifeforms. This is one of them. Enjoy!
The Stacks
by Nikki Starcat Shields
Noticing the smokestacks
The Substacks
The book stacks
The stacks of blocky buildings.
Recalling the curves
The blurbs
The turns
Of now-ancient Home,
Place of embrace,
Of sugar-sticky sweetness,
Of care and tender tending,
Now vanished.
Yearning daily
For ease
For touch
Foretold
Yet not forthcoming.
Where next?
Drifting
Along streets,
Loudly lonely.
Honking, hollering,
These beings
Never cease this noise.
Perhaps that is why
None can hear
The silent cries
Of this nomadic soul.
Their bodies
Are stacks
Of useless information,
Suppressed impulses,
Held-back emotions,
Viruses and bugs.
No capacity
For compassion
Or even perception
Of one who walks alone,
Carried from a softer world,
Mistakenly blown in
On winds of change and desire.
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