HOTEL PATTERSON

We came one night, out of gas,
Passing over your hemisphere.
We couldn't find a fuel truck to take,
And so we crash landed here.

We leveled all within our path,
For at the speed that we were going.
With no galactic brake to pull,
We skidded through two states in slowing.

But then our ship abruptly stopped,
With a bump, bang, knock, and jolt.
And just as we relaxed within,
We fell apart, bolt by bolt.

Our craft lay in bits and pieces,
With wreckage scattered far and wide.
And then we all discovered sadly,
That parts of us were out each side.

So many of my friends departed,
And left me to my frightful woes.
I knew that I would soon know whether,
Humans were my friends or foes.

It did not take them long,
To find our ship's last resting place.
Soldiers circled all around us,
And finally we came face to face.

Which of us was more frightened
To this day, I do not know.
But each of us let out a holler,
When our faces, we did show.

Each of us thought we were normal,
And each thought the other queer.
Each of us stayed quite a distance,
From the other in our fear.

How happy they all seemed to be,
To see our broken, silver craft.
With reverent words and touches,
They hooked it to a long, thin shaft.

Then they shouted to each other,
To lift it high above the ground.
They placed it on a flat truck,
And covered it completely round.

More men picked up the pieces,
And put the bodies in a truck.
One man came and took me also,
And, amid the wreckage, I was stuck.

I asked him, "Where will you take me,
Now that all my friends are dying?"
He did not seem to understand,
And jumped back at my soft crying.

I wondered then where I was going,
As our dismal journey was begun.
Soon, I heard one say to another,
"Turn right to Patterson."

My knowledge of the human ways,
Is sadly incomplete, I know.
But, for a traveler on this world,
I believe a hotel is where they go.

To such a place, I must be headed,
And, very soon, I'll know its worth.
The humans may even fix my ship there,
And let me leave this planet Earth.

It did not take us long to reach it,
And everything was quickly taken.
Into a room, cold and forbidding,
And then I knew I was mistaken.

This place, I saw, was not a hotel,
With all these locks and guards about.
The thing I want most of all then,
Was some way to quietly sneak out.

But there was no escape, I knew,
And, in my heart, I felt great sadness.
But also fear was felt within,
For I had heard of 'human madness'.

The ship, to them, was one big puzzle,
That they set to study right away.
Other humans picked me up,
And took me to a place to stay.

All my friends were there before me,
Around a box of numbered dials.
Bobbing back and forth so slowly,
In liquid filled, sterile vials.

One vial was open and quite empty,
And I knew that it was meant for me.
But first the humans poked and probed me,
And cut me up for them to see.

Just what exactly made me human,
What made me think, breathe, and cry.
And just what exactly made me alien,
But, most of all, the reason why.

Over the years, none have harmed me,
My ship has, long since, been repaired.
The empty vial waits in the next room,
But, for now, I have been spared.

I really must complain, though,
For my stay here has not been fun.
A visit to Earth? I don't advise one,
Or you'll be taken to Hotel Patterson.

by Patricia Hayes