Sunday 17 November 2013

Garf

Watch me for a little while!



Viviparous, they so primitive,
entombed they are in womb of glass,
he smiles and shakes hard the jar
of funny little human things.

At five, a passel as a birthday gift,
Inquisitive
he had watched them breed and grow and thrive,
watched awe-struck as procreation
brought alive his little alien nation,
housed as they were in vivaria
that sat pulsating on his bedroom desk. 
He had marveled at their industriousness,
their efforts to achieve betterment,
yet this noble occupation bent/
thwarted by inherent base
need/desire of war,
a slaughter of its own innocents.

He sadly observed that they did not value life
yet this knowledge served his purpose well. 
No longer would the surplus feed
beasts that slithered belly down,
instead,
the budding entrepreneur would spice them dead,
create a pickle for discerning connoisseurs.

He shook the jar again, watched them swish
as if they had become some sad foetuses
awaiting birth from pickled death. 
He picked one out and with bated breath
awaited its deliciousness
and disappointed not he marveled at his own creation.

Big taste, big bank balance, he sighed happily,
Garf: quondam loser?  Yes – now bloody genius!

Anna :o]    

Björn at dVerse has us writing sci-fi.  The above is a re-write of a micro story (that lies in a now dormant blog) I wrote in May 2011, a re-write in the form of poetry.

I love sci-fi – well not the rubbish stuff – and read Isaac Asimov when a spotty teenager.    Loved watching the Outer Limits, The Twilight Zone and Dr Who.  I loved them because they scared me silly.  (I had a plan should a UFO land when I out alone – I would run head first into the nearest brick wall…!)

The micro story and thus the poem are based on the notion that this universe and this Earth on which we live, exists in some distant galaxies equivalent of an ant farm…

Image: courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

Author: Piolinfax

14 comments:

brudberg said...

Oh this was scary.. Consumed by Garf... being pickled and eaten.. but maybe better than being killed by my own... I can see that Garf shakes the tube every now and then...

Janine Bollée said...

Unfortunately my sci-fi gene is missing. Haven't ever watched a single episode of Dr.Who, even though one of those was filmed in our village.
I know, it doesn't make sense to others, but I found I could live with it, or rather without :-)
doesn't mean I didn't enjoy your writing here. The child/chap is not that different from budding scientists pinning butterflies for study I suppose.

Scarlet said...

Interesting how it may seem they are different, yet when viewed with our eyes, they could be us dressed differently ~ Greed, not valuing life, desire for war - familiar themes of any nation ~

Brian Miller said...

ha. i liked your verse...i used to make such plans as well...there was no way they were catching me unprepared...lol...make a pickle eh? ha...err...wonder what that tastes like...smiles...messed up by our need for war---yet again...

Optimistic Existentialist said...

I really liked the perspective with which this was written from. Wonderful. Happy Sunday :)

Heidi said...

I wish you could link back to the micro-story...I'd like to read both. That said, this is so fricking cool, Anna! My inner sci-fi nerd is cooing contently right now. Plus my sweetie-pies loved the picture and made up their own mini-stories about him.

Rosaria Williams said...

Cool, indeed. Verse, picture and animation.

Anonymous said...

I like poetry that tells a story. You have done a wonderful job. The image at the end with the person being eaten is wonderful and brutal, and, it frightened me.

Mystic_Mom said...

An ant farm, I've always wondered if we weren't to some alien life form just that. Well done!

Vandana Sharma said...

An interesting take:)

Friko said...

Great fun and great imagination.
Can’t say that Garf is my favourite creature though.

What do you mean: lovED Dr Who.? I still do.

Jyoti Mishra said...

I'm a sci-fi fan.. no limits..
scope is infinite
loved it.. :)

Marcelo said...

Creeeeeeeepy!!!!!

Gabriella said...

I find the idea of us "little human things" being shaken in a jar both clever and scary. And I do hope nobody sees our little planet as an ant farm.