                     Draining the Last Canal

"It's landed!
 It's finally landed!"

"Let's go see it!"

"What if it sees us?"

"Don't worry. 
 It has eyes only for the physical.
 We could form a mob
 and advance on it with pitchforks and torches
 and plaster it with posters and graffiti
 and make obscene gestures right into the lens
 and still it would ignore us."

"But surely among its masters
 are a few who are not blind.  
 Won't they see us?"  

"They have seen us for centuries already 
 without artificial aid. 
 Physical sight forms a barrier:
 If we want them to see us 
 we must approach from behind,
 lurking just outside the picture:
 Or else retreat behind a dune, 
 or better yet, the horizon." 

"Retreat, retreat, retreat.
 First to remote areas of their world, 
 then to here,
 and soon to places beyond.  
 Will it ever ens?" 

"Probably not, 
 since that is why they created us:
 To give them something to follow
 to remote lands, then here,
 and eventually the stars."

"The stars...
 Enough to last quite a while.  
 But then???"  

"We'll think of something."

"We always do."

                                   Thomas G. Digby
                                   written 0205 hr  7/24/76
                                   entered 2225 hr  2/08/92
