I am not an actor,
I am not even a liar.
You have heard this story before;
I have stood in fear of this event entire.
None of the clothes are mine.
The shirt I borrowed from your brother,
And the too-small shoes hurt my feet.
My phone weighs down my pocket; a text from my mother.
I take a breath, you don’t,
And we go up the steps—the height, I cannot comprehend.
The time has come, and we must meet the aliens.
On this, our lives depend.
This world is a little too humid,
And the walls are sharp with steel.
The air has a certain stagnancy,
And everything is too artificial to be real.
I am afraid of them,
Of their sharp teeth and masks.
They have surrounded me.
Merely to talk with them; this is my task.
I am looking, searching for the exit,
But even my teeth feel gritty.
They watch me splinter and scramble
And their eyes are filled with pity.
I don’t want to cause any trouble,
I want to do my part.
But how do I lie to them?
All I can feel is the rapid beating of my heart.
We’re all just pretending, right?
So why does it feel like I’m the only one lying?
I see the despair in your eyes,
A mirror of my own.
Into our bodies, you see,
This death has been sewn.
You are replaceable.
I told you I wasn’t a liar, right?
It’s okay—I’m replaceable too.
Yet, whatever we do, we cannot fight.
Your jaw unhinges in protest,
You watch as I approach one.
But you are too late to stop it,
The process has already begun.
I was made to do my part,
I will not shirk my duties now.
To talk, to talk, to talk, I will.
This I will avow.
I catch my reflection in a window
And I am stopped by what I see.
We look the same, the aliens and I.
This is my new reality.
The world begins to dim.
With my last breath I watch you run.
You will live another day, to watch
The battle that never shall be won.
