A Martian Sends
A Martian Sends
A Martian Sends
a Postcard Home,
By Craige Raine (1979)
uNLOCKING
tHE
wORD…
Caxton
An Englishman to
be the very first to
print books in
English.
Martian
Relating to
supposed to be
inhabitants of
planet Mars.
Shriek
A high-pitched piercing
sound or words,
expressing of terror, pain,
or excitement.
Perch
A branch or a
horizontal rod or bar
in a birdcage.
Bookish
Devoted to
reading and
studying rather than
worldly interests.
Soothe
To gently calm
somebody or
someone.
Deliberately
To consciously and
intentionally do
something on
purpose.
Craige
Raine
Caxtons are mechanical birds with many wings
And some are treasured for their markings-
they cause the eyes to melt
or the body to shriek without pain.
I have never seen one fly, but
sometimes they perch on the hand.
Mist is when the sky is tired of flight
and rests its soft machine on ground:
Then the word is dim and bookish
Like engravings under tissue paper.
Rain is when the earth television .
It has the property of making colours darker.
Model T is a room with the lock inside-
A key is turned to free the world
For moment, so quick there is a film
To watch for anything missed.
But time is tied to the wrist
Or kept in box ,ticking with impatience.
In homes, a haunted apparatus sleeps
That snores when you pick it up.
If the ghost cries, they carry it
To their lips and soothe it to sleeps
With sounds . And yet ,they wake it up
Deliberately, by ticking with finger .
Only young are allowed to suffer
Openly. adults go to a punishment room
With water but nothing to eat .
They lock the door and suffer the noises
Alone no one is exempt
And everyone’s pain has a different smell
At night, when all the colours die,
They hide in pairs
And read about themselves –
In colour, with their eyelids shut.