Occupant

Large crowds gather as the UFO lands
Edge of the runway lined with red carpets
Roars of applause as the gathered clap hands
Select soldiers play welcoming trumpets

Officials and officers wait by ship
After the spacecraft makes contact with ground
Too welcome occupants after long trip
Now all has grown quiet, there is not a sound

Waiting and waiting the hours go by
Leaders in charge unsure what to do next
No word or message from craft from the sky
Try to communicate with lights and text

Then they heard a voice at end of the day
"I am a robot" they could hear it say.

Denny E. Marshall has had art, poetry, and fictionpublished. Recent credit include cover art for Bards And Sages Quarterly Jan. 2017 and poetry in Space And Time #126 Winter 2016. His flash fiction story "The Window" published by Sci Phi Journal is on the Tangent Online 2016 Recommended Reading List, a review magazine for short SF & fantasy. See more at www.dennymarshall.com.

Find more by Denny E. Marshall in the Author Index.

Comment on this story in the Aphelion Forum

Return to Aphelion's Index page.