why don’t we let aliens serve man
aboard a UFO? eat humans whole
after a good fattening
after all, the aliens have a complete cookbook
rules and procedures somewhere in the Twilight Zone
what do we have?
fake news.

Rod Serling ruminates about human failure
and does nothing to save humans from alien consumption
knowledge has atrophied
to know is to be an elitist
so the gatekeepers proclaim with blood red
power on their heads
so if we can’t know

why not let the aliens serve man
we’re already serving each other
but we don’t taste very good
with sides of racism, homophobia, transphobia, sexism,
patriarchal pronouns, and idiocy
bloodshed included, peace and love cost extra
tweets proclaiming destruction

I’d rather be eaten by aliens
than watch the world hate again
at least some alien would enjoy me for lunch
a swarthy sandwich
and pretend to want peace before eating a piece
of me
at least someone wants swarthiness.

I’ll even offer him
some horseradish sauce
but why bother?
he’s got a recipe
he knows how to cook humans
while we fulminate about ulterior motives and never see truth
after all aliens know how to serve man.

Yash Seyedbagheri is a graduate of Colorado State University’s MFA program in fiction. Yash’s work is forthcoming or has been published in WestWard Quarterly, Café Lit, 50 Word Stories, (mac)ro (mic), and Ariel Chart. He lives in Garden Valley, Idaho.