Reprieve Poem by ivor or ivor.e hogg

The street are silent there is no sound.
The lack of noise is frightening.
There is nobody to be found.
I find this most unsettling.

No sign of damage to be seen
this absence is what puzzles me.
Like a deserted movie scene.
Not as busy as it should be.

My men are searching thoroughly
we keep in touch by radio.
The silence is disturbing me.
What happened here we have to know.

This was a thriving market town
A centre of activity
Then suddenly it closes down.
Bereft of all humanity

Where have the people gone and why.
There’s no sign of catastrophe
The normal rules do not apply
I can’t interpret what I see.

I call H.Q.with my report.
And they decide on quarantine.
Which seems to me a last resort
It’s their decision it 's not mine.

I merely do as I am told
Instruct my men to block the roads.
The strangeness makes my blood run cold.
I wonder what this can forebode.

Thousands of folks have disappeared
without any apparent cause
To say the least I find it weird.
There’s not the slightest sign of force.

As if they all went willingly
transported to some other place
by some alien machinery.
The product of another race.

My orders come from the top brass
nobody in nobody out
no news will be allowed to pass.
Strictly enforced I have no doubt.


The powers that be have no idea
what can be done if anything
The one thing which is very clear
Is that they’re close to panicking.

The have no precedent to guide
their thoughts on what has happened here.
Instinctively they try to hide
the facts and will succeed I fear.

Perhaps some other government
has had the same experience.
And covered up the incident
Because they lack the common sense.

To understand that they should share
What information they possess
It may be happening every where.
I’m terrified I must confess.

My men go missing one by one
but no one ever sees them leave.
One minute here the next one gone.
I am the last I do believe.

Then suddenly I understand
I too have left the world behind.
I have attained the promised land
The land I never thought to find.

The great rescue is under way
You will be rescued in your turn
when you are called do not delay.
If you refuse then you will burn.

The sun is ready to explode
engulf the planets as it dies.
We have to take the only road
although it comes as surprise.

To know that we were not alone
although considered primitive.
by other races to us unknown
Who offer us the chance to live.

We will be monitored of course
and taught the rules must obey.
But gently not by use of force.
Belligerence is not the way.

We have to learn to live in peace.
and lose our insecurity.
The constant battling must cease
to prove we’ve reached maturity.

31-Dec-07