The Chant

The chant goes on “We are the dead” as such a shocking song In my head set it repeats “We are the dead” Our mission was over So we returned to Earth today It had started once within we entered our system “We are the dead” was all it said There was no other transmissions As we passed the moon we saw it’s base was devastated Then we orbited our world Whilst we discussed what we were going to do We would rendezvous with our earth space station What happened next would depend on what we found There was no trouble docking with our space station We decided only one of us would go in She would be using her spacesuit for added protection The seal was broken and she stepped inside She made her way to the command centre As she walked closer it started again They were all seated at their consoles We are the dead was all they said They had no heart beat or respiration Some others were found in their beds With the same chant on their lips We are the dead repeated again and again We decided to leave the space station The Re-entry to Earth’s atmosphere was routine Putting us down near Sydney Harbour And we rowed ashore we could see the people all sitting down No pulse or respiration was found They repeated the chant We are the dead She was the first of us to go the same way After a day she suddenly sat down and started the chant We are the dead was all she said And one by one we all sat and started the chant It’s been a week and I am sitting in my space ship When a triangle appeared in the sky And a team came down We are the dead is all they heard you see As I sat at the console no heart beat or breath from me. © Paul Warren Poetry