A Close Encounter

A billion light years from the Earth,

Top left corner, Milky Way.

A long day trip, the mother ship,

Hovered in a parking bay.

Official parking bay on Mars,

‘No return within the hour’.

So their need was urgent speed,

A quick Solar System scour.

What’s this planet passing by?

It’s worth taking a look.

And from the bay, sent on its way,

An Interplanetary Collector Truck.

Its mission: scan and sample,

With suction hose, camera peeper.

To folks on Earth, looked for all its worth,

Like a Council Road Sweeper.

Trundled into Nether Podmore,

Elsie’s washing line, to pause.

With sensory nose then suction hose,

Elsie’s minus a pair of drawers.

Then further it trundled on,

And into the High Street.

Crawling truck with a mighty suck,

Sucked up Little Pocket Pete!

Car park of the Dog and Duck,

This planet seems so queer.

Removes the peg, sucks dry a keg,

Of strong Old Sludge Pump beer.

Best get back to mother ship,

Quick, without delay.

Sucked up ample, that last sample,

Engine hiccoughed, then on its way.

Back on Mars, they had a look,

Little Pete’s face, blushing red.

He’s an alien creature, his dreadful feature,

Elsie’s drawers wrapped round his head!

Little Pete, intoxicated,

Laughed, and then began to sing.

Then shut in a case, shot into space,

Got rid of that alien thing!

Back in the yard, Dog and Duck,

It had started to pour with rain.

Swore Little Pocket Pete, unsteady on his feet,

Never to touch, Old Sludge Pump again!