The Invasion
By Cosmic Cairns on February 23, 2022 10:36 pm
In my ongoing efforts to spread myself too thin, in addition to Weekly Beats I've also been participating in a couple of writing contests over on Wattpad. One I just started I have to write a novella by May. Another one that's been ongoing since late last year is a sci-fi short story contest. I've managed to make it to the final 8 of that one and now I'm attempting to advance to the final 4. All of the stories have to adhere to certain prompts and they try to choose some weird stuff and throw you some curveballs. For instance in the last round the story had to contain a recipe with items and instructions how to prepare it and there also had to be a cat and some sort of mysterious object like the monoliths in 2001 or something like that. For the current round, in addition to a story, I'm also required to write a poem. It has to be a sci-fi theme and it has to utilize the word "crepuscular," which was a new one to me. I had to look it up. It means related to twilight.
So anyway, I figured since I had to write a poem, why not kill two birds with one stone. There are some ready-to-go lyrics here, why not set them to music and make a Weekly Beats track out of it? This could end up being a secret weapon for me that gives me an edge. I'd bet none of the other competitors are going to set their poems to music. But on the other hand, maybe it'll be too showboaty or something and I'll get eliminated. Or maybe the song will suck. I don't know. It's a risk, but I'm going for it. If I get knocked out, that's okay. It's all for fun anyway.
Just as a side note, I wrote the poem and titled it "The Invasion" last week, in reference to an alien invasion. This was before all the major world events took place this week. I'm not trying to be flippant about the situation in the Ukraine.
Since it's supposed to have a sci-fi feel I prominently used my musical saw and some cool sounds on the microkorg. Here's the poem/lyrics:
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It was twilight when the spaceships came
In the crepuscular light I saw their flames
As they touched down on our fragile world
I was frightened as could be
I ran to hide beneath a tree
As lit up walkways from their crafts unfurled
Out they came in groups of threes
They looked like horses crossed with bees
And then I heard their voices in my mind
"Could you tell us where we might be?
We took a wrong turn at Albuquerque
Our navs are down and so we're flying blind."
I gulped as I tried to keep my cool
But I failed geography in school
You'd think I'd at least know where I was
But I just chugged eight beers and I was buzzed
I thought my phone might have an app
That could give them an accurate map
But it seemed my battery was dead
Underneath the rising moon
They poked around my mind and soon
Discovered nothing useful in my head
They took off in a blast of light
And left me in the darkening night
Alone, confused, and wondering what was real
And though I had some lingering fear
I shrugged it off and chugged more beer
And that's why, Mom, I'm late for the evening meal
Audio works licensed by author under:
CC Attribution Noncommercial (BY-NC)
