Alien

As there are one hundred thousand million

stars in our galaxy,

and one hundred thousand million galaxies,

I would expect some variety.

But the astronomer affected surprise

when she informed a marvelling

journalist that two planets,

recently discovered in an incomprehensibly

distant star system, are unlike

any found before and make

the prospect of life, as we know it,

existing elsewhere in the universe

statistically unlikely.

I like to think of life as we don’t know it,

muddled along in some impossible environment

by fantastic beings fretting over bills

whilst putting holidays and treats

on weirdly shaped credit cards;

or milling madly in another dimension,

invisible, under our noses, complaining

of sudden, lung-bursting winds

and torrential, gelatinous downpours.

Like tonight, from the train, lettered

in lights on London’s familiar sky:

Abbey -elf Storage.

And the tweeded lady opposite,

making a note and smirking

at her reflection in the glass.

Michael Hughes has had a variety of occupations in his long working life, from digging graves to founding Can Do Education Limited.  Currently, he is teaching English at a London secondary school where he has launched the Alive Poets Society for the enjoyment of the reading and writing of modern poetry among his students.(http://alivepoetssociety.pbworks.com ).