MR. ALLEN'S UFO

               I

Cannibals in New Guinea saw

airplanes, thought them

gods, built shrines. The pilots,

busy with war, never noticed.

              II

All the beings out there

beyond the sky—I read

we hope to reach them

and I laugh. They know

where we are and

so what? Do we want

to speak to ants and snails?

             III

It was Spring, the woods all new green;

I felt electricity everywhere,

leaves trembling, my hair straight up,

legs paralyzed, a scream held by static

in my throat. I went numb,

then blind, but light and heat

pressed and held me

as if in a hug.

Wife said I was gone 5 days,

people hunting my body in the mountains.

What could I say, that I was a lizard

some boys took home

in a glass jar?

To the police

I told the truth, and they laughed,

and that was that.

I go to another world,

talk to gods, what does it

change? This is the life

you go on living.