The Invasion Poem by Michael Matsuda

I stroll with my head down in the middle of the street as the moon pulls itself up to its pinnacle point of the night. My headphones are in my ears project soothing melodies. I walk on the yellow road lines as if I am balancing on a tight rope. I lose my balance and stumble to the right. My headphones nudge out of my ears ejecting the music abruptly and the invasion begins. The streetlights illuminating my path fade into the nothingness of the night. The night light of the Earth, the Moon, has fallen from its peak but has not informed the sun. The lights fade into nothingness.


Darkness? Nothingness?


The darkness consumed all, except it has left me. I keep walking but in every direction there is nothing. I shout and inform the shadows that I am here, but the only reply was an echo of a worried boy. Where is everybody? My faltering stuttered steps become a jog, and then a run. Panic sets in and my chest grows weak with a shiver of numbness.


I am alone. I look in the distance of nothingness and see one illuminated streetlight. I sprint towards the beacon of hope. I arrive with a positive preconceived notion to find a disappointment. I stand under the spotlight of the lamp and wait. The cold sets in and I am the only one who can keep myself warm. I wrap my arms around my shivering chest and stare at my icy breath pertruding with every stammered exhale. My eyes become fixated to the shroud of twilight in search of a silhouette of someone coming to save me.