Scifaikus by Yvonne Aburrow
antique paperback
from lost civilisation -
treasured artifact.
an old telephone -
how strange, now that com-implants
are standard issue.
what a quaint PC -
neural networks integrated
with human brains.
Terran souvenir
bought when leaving for Luna -
moonrise over fields.
family heirloom:
a plastic Tupperware box
classic seventies.
rocking octopoid
lies forlorn in the attic -
controls are broken
haijins' secret sign
swirl in the dust - new order,
haiku illegal
blossom on the wind,
terraforming successful:
dreamtime for Venus.
planets giggling
behind their nebulae fans:
space opera.
Bending time's arrow
to breaking point - we travel
faster than light.
meteor showers
bring the alien flowers -
dragon's teeth sprouting.
astronauts
shinning up heaven's wall:
Jacob's ladder.
galactic rivers
flowing, unstoppable:
ocean of stars.
Earthrise over Moon:
great blue-green orb heaves herself
over horizon.
cold lunar morning:
Earth rises beyond mountains.
Tranquil sea of dust.
Full Earth: Lunabase.
Wiccans gather by earthlight -
gazing at Gaia.
solemn vow, three men:
the harvest Earth reflected
in the bio-dome
lost road in darkness -
I can't find my way home.
Light in the sky.
ancient rutted roads
on desert world - bats croaking,
vermilion sunset.
Betelgueuse Rock.
Distinct flavour of marsh gas.
Earth recipe lost.
Martian candyfloss.
"Eugghh, it's all gritty, Mum."
- "Go play in the sand."
Dreamer turns over:
the universe vanishes.
Too much cheese.
Ticklish alien
giggles. Mum's tentacles
in his ear again.
amino acids
hubble, bubble, toil, trouble:
life stirs in darkness
infinite mirrors
reflecting finite worlds -
madness inside out
robot hive, the queen
reproduces nano-drones:
joy unanimous.
Across vast distance
the insects communicate -
ominous clicking.
Next time you hear
crickets fiddling, watch out
for tiny spaceships.
stars hissing - can you
hear them, and the Moon's silent
cry into the night?
watchmaker tinkers
with moving parts - oceans rise
and Atlantis falls.
high temperatures
Earth turns over in Her sleep:
tectonic shift.
this island Earth, this
globe of chrysoprase - a gem
set in a starry sea.