THE VISITATION

By Joseph D Palermo

She loomed toward the Earth

From the depths of the stars.

Past Pluto, past Saturn, and then on to Mars.

Ancient, decrepit, adrift, and alone,

Strange and forgotten, yet she was our own.

We called and we hailed,

We warned with a threat,

And silently waited, but no sound our ears met.

Not a light, not a sound, not a glint of her skin,

Black and forbidding, none knew where she'd been.

In big ships and small ships

We set out from Earth

To face this thing of unknown birth.

Large and black she sat off to port

Silently warning all of my sort.

With my weapon held ready,

In the newest of suits,

I landed aboard her with a click of my boots.

The hatch at my feet opened silently then,

Quickly, smoothly, with no help from men.

With a shivering heart

And strong determination,

I entered that ship of another's creation.

No dials, no screens, not a single control,

Silent and dark, yet I was not alone.

Not to my ears

Or my eyes was it told.

But it spoke to my mind, my heart, my soul.

"Depart from this craft, you of Earth's dust.

The time has not come for you to join us."

"From whence do you come?"

My torn soul did ask.

"Who was your maker, what is your task?"

"Oh man of strong will and exploring nature,

I am but your past, and so too your future.

“A visit to Earth

My riders desired,

To see her green seas and mountainous spires.

They travel together this universe wide,

To see all the worlds their living did hide.

They forfeit by choice

The peace and reflection

Of the world after death, the next higher dimension.

They choose instead all the worlds to see

That God has created from first history.

Stone worlds and gas worlds

Huge worlds and small,

They travel for ages to visit them all.

The creatures on each world they study intently

And marvel at God's creative ability."

With heart of confusion

And mind of frustration,

I questioned once more with no hesitation.

"Oh ship with your black and mysterious lure,

Who are the people on this long tour?"

"Einstein and Watt,

Yeager and Glenn,

Newton, da Vinci, Bell and Tom Edison.

Science and math and explorers of space,

All unwilling to leave your race.

Now leave this old ship.

Depart while you can.

Go back to your world, to your fellow man.

See me no more for my engines must start

But remember me well - believe with your heart."

Like a frightened small pup

I ran, I fled,

Stood silently watching as she moved ahead.

But I had no fear, no, only pride,

For I knew that for me, a place waited inside.