Engagement

And so, I didn’t know
what their problem was;
it’s not like he wasn’t going
to find out how we lived
or didn’t already
have a pretty damned good
idea, having spent some
time within the semipermeable
membrane of our living room walls.

It’s not like we had
a forcefield generator
like those Lost in Space Robinsons,
where they could turn
a switch and that brilliant
metallic gun would hum and
keep a giant Cyclops and
half-dog mutant men at bay
with an assist from a robot
dangling its electrified accordion arms
in the air, shouting “Danger!
Danger!” when space vermin
would appear at the edge
of the property they squatted on.