Night at the Matinee Motel
Narrated by Geoffrey A. Landis
by Geoffrey A. Landis
On the screen,
Godzilla is roaring
fighting some monster—
Rodan,
—or, no, it is Mothra
In grainy blue flickering,
it is sometimes hard to tell.
Crumpled pizza boxes on the floor.
The room stinks of sex.
On the screen,
as Japanese people scream and flee,
Godzilla grabs Mothra,
shaking the hundred-foot monster like a dog toy,
and flings it into the ocean
(sinking a passing ocean liner)
roaring.
The bed covers are rumpled, and
underwear is strewn across the room.
On the screen,
Mothra is back!
Godzilla bathes it in a blast of blue flickering fire,
lovingly playing his flame up and down.
He lashes his tail,
and entire city blocks are destroyed.
It is two in the morning.
You have gone
home to your wife and children
who do not even know
of the time you spend in motel rooms
or the things you do
with other men.
On the screen,
Godzilla roars
—the cry like a jet engine as it goes hypersonic—
as he pounces on Mothra;
holds Mothra down with one foot
(crushing a subway train with the other)
grabs it by the back of the neck.
But the room is paid until tomorrow
and I have no one waiting for me
no better place to go.
On the screen,
Godzilla bites Mothra on the back of the neck.
They are not fighting, I see now,
they have never been fighting.
This is the mating dance of monsters.
This room is my Yokohama
lit by blue flickering light,
destroyed by mating monsters.
appeared in Icarus: The Magazine of Gay Speculative Fiction (2011)
AUTHOR BIO: Geoffrey A. Landis is a scientist and a science-fiction writer. He is the author of eighty published short stories and novelettes, and just under fifty poems. His novel Mars Crossing appeared from Tor Books, and a short story collection Impact Parameter (and other quantum realities) from Golden Gryphon. In 1990 his story “Ripples in the Dirac Sea” won the Nebula award for best short story; in 1992 his short story “A Walk in the Sun” won the Hugo award; and in 2003 his short story “Falling Onto Mars” won the Hugo. His novel Mars Crossing won the Locus Award for best first novel of 2000. His work has been translated into twenty-one languages.
Dr. Landis is a scientist with the N.A.S.A. John Glenn Research Center and has published 400 scientific papers in the fields of photovoltaics and astronautics, holds seven patents on photovoltaic device designs, has written dozens of articles about model rocket technology, and has worked on a number of space missions, including his current assignment on the Mars Exploration Rovers.
He is the recipient of the prestigious Robert A. Heinlein Award (the ceremony will be at the Balticon, May 2014).
Find more about Geoff here: http://www.geoffreylandis.com/
Tags: Geoffrey A. Landis, Poetry