In the quietest part of the night,
When you hover between dark and light,
Hoping to float away on dreams,
Suspecting not,
there will be screams...
••••
I dreamed I went to bed, and
very soon began to snore.
A short time later, I awoke,
somehow, stuck to the floor.
Could only move a few muscles.
No sound came from my mouth.
I had no sense of where I was.
My luck had fast gone south!

The only thing that I could see,
were tiny strips of light.
They ran across the ceiling,
down a hall, and out of sight.
There was a low-grade buzzing,
but nothing else was heard.
Then I noticed someone there,
that uttered not a word!
It was no normal "someone,"
rather, something I'd not seen!
It moved, and reappeared...elsewhere,
in a quick, bright flash of green.

A red flash, this time...there's another!
then a burst, and there were more!
I dared not close my eyes
not knowing what they had in store!
A mist began to sprinkle down,
from somewhere high above.
I watched it slowly diffuse
as it clung to me like a glove.

This time I could move nothing;
Not fingers, mouth, or eyes!
This was effective in suppressing
my traitorous, terrified cries!
Then something more strange happened:
They spoke inside my head!
They told me not to be afraid,
they intended no bloodshed!

Their words echoed inside my head.
They hoped I'd be compliant.
But hearing that, just sparked my ire...
My thoughts became defiant!
Okay, ... well, they picked up on that,
They tried another ploy....
They said their intent here
was to create, not to destroy!

They said they had to enter me.
(Through which hole, I didn't know!)
They had to become part of me;
Inside,... go with my flow!
At this point, I was horrified!
I didn't know what that meant.
What did that mean—"go with my flow”?
Where, and to what extent?

Of course, they heard my panicked thoughts,
And felt they should explain:
They said they'd compress their essence,
And enter through a vein!
They said there would be four of them,
To make the search complete.
Once inside, they'd remain there
Exploring, head to feet.

They said their evolution stalled,
spiraled out of control;
That their kind would be destroyed
If they didn't reach a set goal.
What all that had to do with me,
I just could not fathom.
From all the people on this Earth
Picking me seemed so random!

They heard my thoughts, and said to me,...
"No, random this was not!
Don't you recall, you're one of us?
You must have just forgot!
Your signal is the strongest;
Surpasses all the rest.
Oh, them, ... we'll get to presently
But we started with the best!"

What the hell does that mean?
No! I can't be one of you!
Look at me, we're not the same!
What is it you planned to do?

"When things began to go awry,
We sent couriers out;
to implant a special-made seed;
given time, …that seed would sprout!
It's what our essence used to own,
millennia ago.
We hope it has grown strong in you;
our search will let us know.
We must enter you, search about,
find that one seed component.
Once inside, it will be fast;
will only take a moment!"

I knew this was a pointless search;
For no seed would be found!
In fact, (sarcastically) next
they'll busy themselves
filling a bucket up with sound!

Suddenly, it seemed I had been moved
No more, pinned to the floor!
It seemed like just a second passed,
But my gut said, much, much more!
They said they were successful!
Their precious seed was found!
In fact, there was an abundance!
Enough to spread around!

They said they now had others,
And had implanted them.
That my mold was propagated
For a much quicker outcome.
In the next few years they'll return,
To collect the entire lot.
To begin the re-population
Of the transplant argonauts.

They said, "take a look down the hall!
We're almost set to go!"
With all they had said, up to now,
My faculties were a bit slow!
I didn't know what to expect,
In fact, I had not a clue.
They all just stood, gathered about,
looking at me askew.

Then, I saw hundreds of men
Take one step from the wall,
They looked alike; all dressed the same
In the same, grey coverall
I looked a little closer…
My mind screamed, NO, NOT ME!
But, all lined up, copies of me
As far as my eye could see!

Sharon Cunningham
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