Sunday 8 April 2018

I, Esurient



We are the scourge of ourselves,
sucking our world dry,
greedy for 'now',
for immediate pleasure,
the satisfaction of having,
of want without need.

Conquerors we once were,
the fear of alien nations,
we plundered their planets,
gorged on sweet bread of their flesh. 
But now we, devils of our own making,
forever forsaking our future,
feeding on the now of our wants,
we have finally conquered ourselves.

We have raped our own planet
and almost barren our world,
our suns raging in anger
melts our scales into slough
that drips off our backs.
Light fades in our vision,
shy neath a nictitate blink,
its membrane near failing to moisten
and almost blind we become. 

Fear growls in our hearts as our claws claw 
for strength from each fought after breath,
and we know we must act now,
for if not we are doomed as a planet
and doomed as ourselves.

I, Esurient, a scientist,
tasked with others of my ilk my design
to come up with an answer, and driven we are 
to save our world and our kind.
There is great need of research,
to conquer this disease that destroys us
and what better than snatching miserable lab rats
from that pit that names itself Earth.

(They are not far behind us, those humans,
seeming intent on destruction of self,
feeding on the wealth of today
and discounting the dearth of tomorrows...
the horrors to come.)

We come in the night stripping their planet of power,
switching off all lights, for what better than darkness
to feed on their fears and fill them sour with dread. 
We hungry (for life) suck them up to our ships,
in their millions their billions; we take all those
pathetic in living and the dried bones of their dead.

Testing DNA ribbons proves of nothing to aid us 
as a cure of diseases that ail us bewail us,
but we find humans nutritious and at least 
(for a while) we will feed well and thrive.  
And the planet though now hostile
to our alien life form can be altered to suit us,
give a temporary respite and keep us alive…

then we must begin again…to seek out new worlds,
to savage and plunder, seek out an answer… find
planets like us, intent of destruction,
that will feed us and home us,
will keep us alive,
well at least for a while…

Anna :o]

Inspired by Brenda’s Wordle 346,  the words being:  Stranger, drive, bread, light, on, switch, growl, devil, shy, off, stripe & snatches – although I couldn’t find a place for stranger and stripe.

Also inspired by MLM's prompt of “Alien Abduction” where she asks us to write from the viewpoint of the alien.

And shared with the good folk at Poets United too! 

Image courtesy of: Pixel's

29 comments:

annell4 said...

An amazing write!! Frightening!!!

Sabra Bowers said...

Wordled well. I like how you combined the two prompts.

Donna@LivingFromHappiness said...

I agree this is fabulous and yes accurate and oh so scary in its truth!

James said...

At least we're not alone (in our self-destructiveness) in the universe.

Amber said...

This is indeed frightening because there is so much truth in it. Fiery and vivid writing! So good to have you back =)

Yves

Sherry Blue Sky said...

Well, now, this is an outcome i had not thought of. But it is one way to rid the earth of us so it can thrive again. Smiles.

colleen Looseleafnotes said...

The planet need a #metoo! This is a horror for the horror. Truth is stranger than Science Fiction.

Anonymous said...

Sweeping, comprehensive, and masterly! You have all my own vast admiration for the human race.

Wendy Bourke said...

An impactful and important piece ... stunning ... terrifying ... and brilliantly rendered.

Julian said...

Wow, an epic piece here of which speaks many a true word. I did enjoy your poem. (we've not forgotten your french onion recipe, my good lady nearly made some this weekend. I hope the wait will be worth it for you)

Gillena Cox said...

Its a vicious cycle we dubb survival
Well wrought in ypur poem Anna
Thank you for dropping by my Sunday Standard today

Much🌼love

ayala said...

Sometimes reality is stranger than fiction.

Sanaa Rizvi said...

Yikes!! I say we better heed to the warning and save our planet! Beautifully penned.

ZQ said...

I'm under my bed : (
Well, thanks for a well written nightmare. I have to go now. : )
ZQ

Julian said...

haha 'nutritious' - that's awesome.

C. Sandlin said...

Maybe I shouldn't have read this so late...but it was a great, shivery read. :) It makes me wonder who Esurient is trying to reach and why.

Sarah Russell said...

A cautionary tale for sure. And maybe just commenting on what IS. I’d hate to think there was no hope.

kaykuala said...

Very well done, Anna, scary on what can be the outcome to the human race!


Hank

Cressida de Nova said...

Greed will kill us all unless a miracle or a major catastrophe brings us to our senses.
The prognosis looks bad.

Rommy said...

Humans couldn't be the only greedy and rapacious things out in the universe.

revelations said...

scary and thought provoking... great write

Vivian Zems said...

The food chain lives! An important message here. Good write!

purplepeninportland.com said...

Wow! This really makes you think. So well written.

"suns raging in anger melts our scales into slough that drips off our backs. Light fades in our vision, shy neath a nictitate blink, its membrane near failing to moisten and almost blind we become. "

Amazing!

Neeraj Khanka said...

A scary truth...!

"the satisfaction of having,
of want without need"

- perfect description, we simply want everything without any need !

Mary said...

Very frightening, evocative write!

Rosemary Nissen-Wade said...

YEEOW! A doom-and-gloom scenario rather too believable in some respects.

dsnake1 said...

oh wow, there is no shelter for me to hide, and i think it will be useless too. :)

what a scary tale, but it could well be true in the future. we do not know what else is out there in the universe.
and you inspired me to write some sci-fi poetry too.

Anonymous said...

I am reminded of a great short film that went viral-ish a few years ago. It's still worth watching! https://youtu.be/IfPdhsP8XjI

Sarah Russell said...

Your sentiment about the world is grim, but not far-fetched. Hope we can steady the rudder away from destruction, but I’m not sure we can.