Southbound on the Superhighway

A tourist flew in from faraway Mars,

Parked way up in Earth's thin air

And sighting down with a laserscope.

Reported these data with exact care.

The creatures of this world as big as ours

Are made of metal plate and glass.

Through crystal parts I see their guts

From out their backs they shoot out gas.

Flair feet are round and roll on tapes.

Long measuring tapes - dark with white

Lines marked with paint or shining balls

These creatures possess both power and might.

Each has four eyes; two in the back

Are red. But now and then appears.

A five-eyed one, with red eye burning

On the top of his head. And all go slow

And let him rush, his red up learning.

Columns of them glide down the tapes;

Others take the opposite lanes

Those shapes within-shadowy soft-

Are they the guts?

Are they the brains?