The Others
A poem on the human fear of invasion — or is it simply a fear of change?
Michele Scaccaglia was born in Praticello di Gattatico (Reggio Emilia) in 1984. He lives in Berlin, where he works as a copywriter, coordinates a reading club for people with disabilities, sings in an electro-punk band (IOCI), and writes short stories, poems and lyrics. He has written for Soft Star Magazine, Bait/Switch, Wertheimer - La Rivista, Yanez Magazine, CrunchEd, Tremilabattute, Kalporz, Frequencies, Doppiozero, among others.
Parallel forms struggle to speak, nestled in tactical fears. Blood will flow, but what color will it be? We are alone, we sink towards the purple circle of basic emotions. We are alone and hypnotized by saturated screens numbed by the stuffy sky. Are those flashes, falling from above? Or reflections of buildings too high that escaped the control of dirty consciences making us feel defenseless? Will they harvest wheat as we do? Will they dress trendy? Are they afraid of death? And of their own shadow? What if they were among us? What if they were us? Skittish cows smell the danger. They hang around in circles, looking for shelter. Do they eat us, or do they just want to dance? Do they trust mankind? Do they trust God? Do they trust themselves? Probably, more than us. Cruel, how cruel the imagination is. Powerful, how powerful the projection is. Brutal, like cold desires. Divine, like wild pineal glands. Aliens, like human palindromes.