Star

Star

One summer night in Shannon

A streak of light shot through the sky

A star dropped from the heavens

And there on our backyard died

The wooden shed was in ruins

As the celestial body burned

I was busy dousing the fire

But my father looked unconcerned

“Dad, should we call the fire department?”

“No, the rain will soon pour”

“But the wind is getting stronger!

“Don’t worry it’s under control”

The tongues of flames subsided

Ashes scattered in the air

The shed a blackened charcoal

I said a little prayer

Mother stood by the greenhouse

With a garden hose in her hand

Ready to aim it at the embers

Should they come alive again

A gasp came from my sister

As she stared at the shed’s unhinged door

A yellow creature squeezed it’s way through

Its eyes pleaded for succor

One step, two, then three

Before it tripped on the ground and fell

It tried to get up but couldn’t

It’s body sprawled out like mushy gel

Father scooped him up like a baby

And took him to the living room

By the fireplace with some blankets on him

The yellow thing rested and snored

When the night gave way to the sun

I looked out to the garden deck

And not one but two yellow creatures

Were sitting there, I had to check

As I approached the other turned

And transformed into someone I knew

It was my father who looked at me

I dropped my coffee, back inside I flew

My father’s an alien, I thought

Perhaps all my life this was true

He’d always been different, a bit odd

Or maybe this was something new

What if the creature from last night

Infected him as their skins touched

What if my father needed saving

A rescue, I planned instead

But when I ran back out to the garden

He told me to sit down

And told me the story

Of how he was found

“Your mother was ten and a half

She was playing in that old shed

When my ship crash-landed on it

Almost left her for dead

She saved me, made me her friend

Her parents let me live in the barn

But she and I fell in love

I asked them for her hand 

My kind, we are shape shifters

I’m sure you have deduced

When I married your mom

To be human, I chose

This here is my brother

He’s come to take me with him

But I’m not going anywhere

Coz earth is now my home"