talking in my head
with the aliens' leader
that I don't notice
that I've been walking
up the gangplank
into their spacecraft
until I'm inside,
staring about,
looking at a map of the Earth
on a huge screen
you can see all the countries
and cities
marked with red lights
and golden trajectories
leading to them
(of course South is at the top
and North is at the bottom
but apart from that
they got it right)
I'm not sure
if this is an invasion plan
or an interplanetary
friendship atlas
so I turn to ask the alien leader
but I can't make a word
form in my head
the alien leader
whose name I know somehow is
Vlng rr Giz
(or something like that)
has decided to grow hair
like a shagpile muppet
he's grown taller, too,
and looks down at me
and beams a picture
into my head
I can see the map on the screen
but it's like a 3D movie
that somehow I can feel
in my hands
there is so much detail
I can see Hobart, Tasmania
and I know I could feel
every house and person in it
if I had the time
I can see
New York
Mexico City
Beijing
Sao Paolo
Johannesburg
New Delhi
Hong Kong
Kuala Lumpur
Jakarta
Istanbul
Montreal
Auckland
Sydney
Phoenix
Moscow
Paris
Nairobi
St Petersburg
Athens
Vienna
Cairo
Quito
suddenly I realise
that these are all the places
my father has been to
for his medical conferences
and from where he has sent me
postcards
with smart comments
jokes
and cartoon drawings
to remind me
he still exists
I look more closely
at the aliens' leader
and detect a smiley look
in its eyes
(if it had a mouth
I could be sure)
somehow this alien
reminds me of my father
I devise a plan
to test my theory
I think hard
of my father's favourite
piece of music
(Mozart's something or rather)
that goes
dadadalump
Yep
it works
the alien start to jive around
like his shagpile's on fire
and all the other aliens
are grooving, too
this is when I know
I'm dreaming
and what I'm dreaming about
is my dad
who Julia and I always call
Roger
(and we call mum Anthea)
yes this dream is about
my dad
who is so often away
that he's a bit of an alien to me
so in my dream
(I'm still dreaming)
I grab
the aliens' leader's
shagpile fur whatever
and rip it off
and there
sure enough
is my dad, Roger
underneath... inside
looking at me sheepishly
like he had been caught
doing something naughty
by Andrea
I say aloud to him in English
'Hi, Roger, my good fellow,'
or something ridiculous like that
and he laughs
and laughs
and I laugh
and all the aliens laugh
and take off their suits
to reveal their
true identities
I guess
you know them all
Max and
Duk San and
Con and
Hilary and
Duyet and
David and
Juanita and
Terry and
Sue Lee and
William and
Charlie and...
