Planet Of Zakal

Planet Of Zakal
© Surazeus
2023 01 28

The starship tumbles in the buzzing void 
after bouncing over anomalies 
of pulsing shards from cracked mirror of time 
then plunges into jello atmosphere 
to skid along sulfuric sea of tears, 
and lurches stuck on ruby-cluttered shore. 

Emerging from smoking wreck of her ship, 
Captain Kwan Yanling, in protective suit, 
climbs over emerald boulders to ascend 
mountain slope teeming with enormous web 
of vines that bloom with apricot-like fruit, 
while gathering data with blinking eye-tablet. 

Entering fractured gate of diamond pillars, 
carved with figurines of dinosaur people 
and verses of poems in elegant runes, 
Captain Kwan walks vast maze of city streets 
among towering pyramids of emeralds 
each covered with sprawling temple estates. 

Unnerved by eerie silence of bright streets 
cluttered with millions of bleached skeletons, 
Captain Kwan guides drone above city maze 
to scan its infrastructure with bright beams 
which generates virtual model of this world 
as complex maze of myths inside her brain. 

Slithering from jagged cave of amethyst, 
enormous dragon worm with thousand wings 
of feathery spikes that drip poisonous words 
lunges toward Captain Kwan with open jaws 
bristling long sharp fangs of aggressive lust, 
so she fires lasers from rifle of faith. 

Running through shifting maze of mirror doors 
that realign dimensions of strange truth, 
Captain Kwan battles hordes of ten-eyed clones 
that skitter on six legs of hungry rage, 
blasting them with hot laser beams of courage 
till they quiver among skulls of dead gods. 

Safe from attack by huge demonic ants, 
Captain Kwan explores vast temple complex 
to study murals of paintings on walls 
that depict how their ancestors evolved 
from dinosaurs into ravens with hands, 
then destroyed their empire with civil war. 

Arriving back on ruby-cluttered shore, 
Captain Kwan repairs her sturdy starship 
with Pluto gems that fuel its time-jump engine, 
then soars away from Planet of Zakal, 
cargo heaped with library books of wisdom, 
and grins as she navigates back to Earth.