the day the spacemen came to town

[[ Perhaps despite surface appearances, this one is actually about the black civil rights movement in America. And refugees. Yeah. ]]

the day the spacemen
came to town
we shot them down
we shot them down

and up they sprang
to walk again
straight into town
to settle down

[[I'm not fumbling for words here - this stanza is purposely left spare, floating. It needs pause, space, room to wonder in musically.  ]]
their hair was like...
electric...
crackling...
in our afternoon

their skin was of
an unknown
color shifting in
the sun, the moon,

they looked and walked
and talked from far, [sic -- just because ]
they made an
unexpected sound

like something
half suspected
we could never
get our tongues around

And, oh, but they
were beautiful
space men and women
every one,

but not like us:
we shot them down
we shot them down
we shot them down

we hid them in
our shallow earth
(God damn our souls,
God damn our birth)

but up they sprang
to walk again
across the bridge
and into town.