There is no leader, so we take them to our women.
They say, "Oh, so you have finally joined the
universe," and we reply, "Careful, there is one
nation still using Fahrenheit." To say that we
are wholly impressed by their technology would be
an overstatement. Instead, a mutual exchange occurs—
they give us teleportation (the key is to ignore
philosophy when you push the button) and we
give them white sand, yellow roti, a container
of sorrel. We push and pull and laugh. Once,
a misfired ray gun makes a millipede
the size of a bus. Our children become friends
with their children, compare the quantity of
fingers, genital shapes, breathing apparatuses,
how to say no. Some of them want to stay, some
of us want to leave. They have never seen one
sun set so slowly, or how the moon must pull the
water for itself. They find their bodies transforming
in our air—their limbs, we tell them, likely exhausted
from travel. Their eyes cannot stop watering.
They do not have a word in their language for
longing, a pain that cannot be chemically excised.
We guide them to the mountains, the falls, tell them not
everything is a test. When they leave, they promise
to tell their people Earth was warm, was Black,
and cradles its pain in the sea.
In “Aliens Visit the Islands,” Terese Mason Pierre describes an extraterrestrial landing in the Caribbean that subverts familiar sci-fi tropes.
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This poem begins in a very light-hearted and even comedic tone, but ends on an emotionally tender note. How might a live recitation reflect, enhance, or embody this tonal shift?
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No singular character is ever mentioned in this poem, rather two groups—the aliens and the humans—meet, and each have collective traits and responses. How is this approach to characterization different from a poem that focuses on a singular speaker or subject?
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In this poem, the alien visit results in the unlocking of strong emotions for them. What feelings do they seem to experience between their arrival and departure? Why do you think they are affected in this way?
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An alien visitation can echo fraught cultural encounters from real-life history—including invasion, displacement, and colonization. But this poem offers something different. How does this poem contrast more familiar—and harsher—cultural encounters in the region in which it is set, given that the Caribbean was the first site of European colonialism and slavery in the Americas?
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It’s not until the end of the poem that we are told the humans these aliens have encountered are Black. Did you anticipate this before that point or was it a revelation? How do you think Black identity factors into the themes of this poem?
Writing activity: Alien visitation as a trope is excellent for defamiliarizing, or making strange, the norms that we take for granted, because we see ourselves anew through the eyes of these strangers. Write a poem that uses alien arrival and encounter as a way of offering a fresh take on a commonplace aspect of your experience or cultural context.
Useful Links
The poet discussing Afrofuturism, a specific form of Black speculative writing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b7OTwS5s-yY
Interview about how she wrote the book Myth, the collection in which this poem appears: https://quillandquire.com/authors/terese-mason-pierre-talks-about-the-debut-poetry-book-she-never-intended-to-write/
Live reading from Myth: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HjNXi53wb6E&t=529s
Terese Mason Pierre, “Aliens Visit the Islands,” from Myth. House of Anansi Press, 2025. Reprinted by permission of the publisher.