Judith Roitman

[scenario in which children encounter a wounded alien in the desert and are cruel]

mouth in hand small mouth cavity goes nowhere no tubes no vocal no digestive no breathing none — hand in mouth many hands in mouth small child hands pulling what does it do does it do mouth no teeth no saying no tongue just mouth cavity no lips why bother why appear many hands poking small child hands eyes cannot flap no lids big eyes all pupils how do you know where it is looking you would feed it something but how would it eat?

[scenario in which the surviving alien is seen at the edge of a trailer park ]

in peripheral vision first thought
someone’s child could not believe
disappeared behind then appeared
one skinny limb then another
maybe arm maybe leg naked
twilight couldn’t tell color
big head dog didn’t move
didn’t bark so still dog
almost shaking if I blink
gone but wasn’t

[scenario in which aliens live in underground complexes built by the U.S Army]

find within each other
swarm did not know so many
such smooth
tunnels machines
reconstructed
Other present watching
Other control secret
pact mutuality not
mutual do not
stumble across this

[scenario in which the surviving alien advises the president and cabinet in the White House]

in suit
in tie
in corners
fluttering
half-seen
center
at edges
with gaze
behind curtain
behind door
fugitive
unexplained
ubiquitous
unexplained
phantom
unexplained
unnoticed
unexplained

[scenario in which aliens appear in tv sitcom as themselves]

eyes difficult special lenses protect
also suckers problematic sticking furniture
uniforms easily reproduced
voice-over needed sync to
audience spontaneously
as stumble lurch such large head

[scenario in which aliens move among us undetected]

projecting image into mind fluid unrelenting what seen expected deviation unnoticed as in mall so even jostled unnoticed such small feet unnoticed what reached for what currency on elevator reaching seen as wished for never more than never recognized seen as what expected exactly what

Judith Roitman has most recently published in Otoliths, Eleven Eleven, Horse Less Press, Talisman and Yew. Her recent chapbooks include Slackline (Hank’s Original Loose Gravel Press), Furnace Mountain (Omerta), Ku: a thumb book (Airfoil Press) and Two: ghazals (Horse Less Press). Her book No Face: Selected and New Poems (First Intensity Press) appeared in 2008. She lives in Lawrence KS.
 
 
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