Interstellar
by David Romtvedt
When I was a kid I wanted the aliens
to land, open the door of their ship
and appear, halo of light around their heads,
seven-fingered hands in silver gloves
waving me on board while speaking
some unknown language like French.
The years have passed
and the ship hasn’t come.
I lean out the door and sniff the air,
cock my ear listening
for the UPS truck in the distance,
back ordered package on its way.
When the truck stops, I lift my front paws
onto the steel step and leap up.
The driver leans down biscuit in hand.
From the open doorway, I call out,
Ne t’inquiètes pas—
je t’enverrais une postale,
surprising everyone
with my knowledge of French.
Share:
This poem speaks to the interpenetration of experience and imagination. As a child in a rather unhappy home, I dreamt of flying away with the aliens. Indeed, my wife has said she hopes the aliens never land as she’s certain I’ll get on board. Then there’s my dog who will climb up into any UPS truck he sees. Finally, there’s the dog I’ve not yet met who not only speaks French, but appears to write it, promising to send me a postcard, me promising to send you one.
Currently unpublished, “Interstellar” is the opening poem in Still on Earth to be published by the Louisiana State University Press.
....................................................................................................................................................................................
DAVID ROMTVEDT'S latest book of poetry is No Way: An American Tao Te Ching (LSU Press, 2021). He was born in Portland, Oregon and raised in southern Arizona. He graduated from Reed College, with a BA in American Studies and an MFA from the Iowa Writers' Workshop and was a graduate fellow in Folklore and Ethnomusicology at the University of Texas at Austin. After serving in the Peace Corps in Zaïre (currently Congo) and Rwanda and on a sister city construction project in Jalapa, Nicaragua, he worked as the folk arts program manager for the Centrum Foundation. He has worked as a carpenter, tree planter, truck driver, bookstore clerk, assembly line operative, letter carrier, blueberry picker, ranch hand, and college professor. A recipient of two NEA fellowships, The Pushcart Prize, and the Wyoming Governor's Arts Award, Romtvedt served as the poet laureate of the state of Wyoming from 2003 to 2011. davidromtvedt.com