The Roswell Incident

My father was a rancher
 East of Socorro
 southeast of Corona
 near Roswell, New Mexico
 In the middle of nowhere
 no radio, no telephone
 1947
 I was 12 years old
 Big lightning storm one night
 beginning of July
 we heard an explosion
 wondered what, wondered why
 Riding out the next morning
 over the pasture to check on some sheep
 that's when Daddy found it
 the big field of weird debris
 He brought some of it home then
 laid it out on the kitchen floor
 bits and pieces
 of things we'd never seen before
 Like foil but not foil
 like wood but not wood
 like wire, waxed paper
 all weighing much less than it should
 Everything was so strong
 we couldn't cut it or scrape it
 pliable, unnatural
 we couldn't burn or break it
 There were symbols in purple and pink
 like a transparent recipe
 ranged out in columns
 but nothing we could read
 A couple days later
 Daddy drove into Corona
 and there he heard the stories
 what had been seen by others
 Near Magdalena
 on the Plains of San Agustin
 a civil engineer
 and an archeological research team
 found a disc shaped object
 surrounded by creatures
 like human but not human
 round heads, no hair, small features
 A military officer
 drove up and ordered everyone to leave
 swore them to silence
 their patriotic duty
 A couple in Roswell
 star gazing from their front porch
 watched an object speeding
 through the night of the big storm
 Like two inverted saucers
 glowing from the inside
 headed straight for the lightning
 right out to where we resided
 They said
 "We know what we saw
 no rocket, no weather balloon
 Why keep it a secret?
 What could we learn?
 What could we learn?
 Well, we don't know
 but we do know two things
 we know what we saw
 and we know that we are not alone."
 So Daddy went into Roswell
 where he talked with the sheriff
 who called up the army
 who came for my father
 Took him out to our pasture
 with trucks and soldiers
 where they picked up the pieces
 and carried them all away
 Then they jailed my father
 and they asked him questions
 under guard in a small room
 from head to foot tested him
 He said
 "You know what I saw.
 I don't know why you're doing this to me
 but I will keep it a secret
 because you say it's my duty."
 One week later
 he came home on an airplane
 said forget all about it
 he never spoke of it again
 But sometimes I asked him
 "Daddy?
 Was it from another planet?
 Was it something from the future?"
 but I never got an answer.
 Still, I know what I saw
 I don't care what they told him
 Why keep it a secret?
 What could we learn?
 What could we learn?
 Well, I don't know
 but I do know two things
 I know what I saw
 and I know that we are not alone
 I know what I saw
 I don't care what you're thinking
 Why keep it a secret?
 What could we learn?
 What could we learn?
 Well, I don't know
 but I do know two things
 I know what I saw
 and I know that we are not alone