stranger from another planet
to another planet:



There is not much that I know, but I know
for a fact that there are aliens on Mars.

They are not like us, they find shelter
in impact craters and on polar ice caps.

Fresh from an organic crop of evolution
they are broad, flat, bearing brutal exoskeletons angled
just so
for burrowing under the basalt
           (which happens to be why we don't see them
           in the pinpoint view of our land rovers
           would we not do the same?)

If you flip them upside-down, they die.

at night they
scuttle into gullies
run the lenth of
dry, dark channels
and, loyal to routine,
they perch on rocks to contemplate Deimos,
                                   (but never Phobos)
and do not ever wonder
if there is life on earth.

their mating ritual consists of a series of unintelligible walking patterns
--like bees; a sort of dance, a triumphant toss of iron oxide dust
and then they make a pilgrimage to the Victoria crater
to make love.



the aliens are happy.

they spend their days basking in ultraviolet radiance
and sometimes, the solar winds
rustle their bristly hairs peaceably
while they sleep.