031921b

 

diplomatic party served

frozen, grated

garnished

103020c

 

Adhering to a chunk of rock
the ship hurtled toward the primary
looking like nothing but a boulder
of extraordinarily typical hue and surface texture
but within, Samm 57, webbed amid the controls
monitored everything
it set course for planet three
and fired hot jets
welcome was not anticipated
yet Samm would kiss everything
briefly

091520

 

Remember Mars

A small planet,

Dead for billennia,

Its pipsqueak moons,

Hardly deserving names,

The orb’s popular in myth,

But, no one cares, anymore,

And sure,

There was that colony, but

c’mon,

200 misfits can’t stop

The progress of science!

It’s not the end of the World!

(Well, it is, technically,

But, seriously,

Does anyone care?)

And the disintegrator works!

That’s the important thing.

Yeah!

 

070620b

The Moles came in way under the radar. Don't worry, Cap. said, as long as none of you are worms. The Annelid Brigade took heavy losses, but they sent the 17-year armor in to reclaim their territory.

052520c

hark!

the buzz of hounds

in the clover

051520

the rocky planet

verdant, rich in water and oxygen

was a decoy—

from the gas giant: ships, ships, ships

042520c

There Goes The Neighborhood

We saw the invaders come here

their ship on legs of fire climbing

down the sky as if from heaven

to land on burning heath near town

Out they came in their shining suits

heads like balls of glass with faces

by reflections concealed from us

down the hills they came to our town

What brought them to our land they said

in gestures and in speech like birds

to find what God laid on the world

and who lived in our little town

Tall they were and slowly they moved

weapons they carried of bright steel

our brave young men fingered their blades

ready to defend home and town

How it began none remember

but we and they were all on edge

axes flew and their weapons roared

many fell there, in my hometown

I saw one helmet, glassy globe

burst apart, and the face within

in an instant flamed and was gone

they fled in haste from our strong town

Two hands of warriors died that day

five of the others burned away

the ship rained fire before it left

tower of black smoke marked our town

We will rebuild, this is our land

the next time sky folk come to call

they'll show respect or never leave

we'll meet as equals in our town.

040720b

Dill pickles are bigger, but the gherkins are more vicious. Watermelon pickles carry the heaviest armor.

030820d

between the pages
pop-up people lobbed spitballs
deadly consequences

022720

the natives are sessile
propagate via petal-form propagules
human teen acne
unrequited love
just before the breeding season
she loves me-she loves me not
population crash
this means war

021120c

Earth falls silent something launched toward the ISS

010820

social madness
missiles fly and fall
bot farms wait

010720c

a second sun
blooms over the city
eyes run

010720

nostalgic
for 2019
nuclear tick

010420b

opening salvo
in 45's reelection campaign
delivered, appropriately,
by drone

111619c

Jellyfish Man tried to help in the War, but after the seas boiled away he wasn't much good for anything.

110619

Serving root beer at the reception
for the delegation from Vegetaria
a natural misunderstanding
a blunder of interstellar proportions

during the resulting war
terrestrial forests
concealed the advance guard
of the invasion force
until it was far too late

102719b

lost the time war
before it even started
fire in the lab

091119

it comes round again
a day on which thousands died
the pace of murder quickened
when Hiroshima fell
but we still kill the old-fashioned way
a dozen here, 50 there
even one at a time
if need be

071019b

3 planets
in this sun's goldilocks zone
war, of course