did you ever read the book
or see the movie the time machine
this guy traveled into the future
and ended up in what seemed
like a paradise
everybody was young and beautiful
it was a peaceful, quiet, wonderful place
where everyone lounged around all the time
ate luscious fruit right off the trees
played and swam
had a great time
but then every so often
the sounds of eerie sirens
would disrupt the quiet
everyone would stop in their tracks
and become zombies
sleepwalking toward dingy cave entrances
from which they would never return
when the sirens stopped
those who hadn’t reached the caves
in their trances
would go right back to eating fruit
and playing around
like nothing had ever happened
but the others were enslaved
and defiled
murdered and eaten
by unspeakable mutant cave dwellers
called morlocks
who could only see in the dark
this is what the beautiful people
existed for
i thought about this
and wrote this poem
driving to work this morning
through rush hour traffic
sirens in my head
feb 20 ‘86
© 1986
