Size / / /

It is the Martian with black, child-like eyes
landing a spaceship in my driveway

who will save me. Long, slim limbs,
nodding head, wordless and listening,

the way the hand tugs me from the bedclothes.
I feel only the cool of smooth skin—

flawless and scented, part apple-orchard,
part ozone. Yes: there’s radiation

in outer-space, but bless this Martian
who straps me in, the Midwestern winter

gone at a push of a button, the wormholes
we propel through, the flicker of lights,

the Martian’s soft gaze over the operating table
as everything inside me is opened up and touched.

Publication of this poem was made possible by a donation from John Devenny. (Thanks, John!) To find out more about our funding model, or donate to the magazine, see the Support Us page.



Laura Madeline Wiseman's debut book of poetry is Sprung (San Francisco Bay Press). She is also the author of six chapbooks, including 2012's Unclose the Door. She is the editor of Women Write Resistance: Poets Resist Gender Violence (Hyacinth Girl Press). She has a doctorate from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, where she teaches creative writing. Stranger Still, a new anthology of her alien-themed poems, will be available in October 2013, and can be pre-ordered through Finishing Line Press.
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