After and Before After the aliens made first contact, After the gathering of the nations in Geneva, After the suspension of all earthly wars, After the staring crane-necked up at the ships Hovering over Moscow, Beijing, DC, Which made everyone nervous, as if They intended to decapitate the great capitals, After the debates as to whether They had come in peace or to do harm, After the full mobilization of all armed forces, After the granting to the president of all possible powers, After the suicides of those who couldn’t cope With what the existence of another civilization implied, After those who’d always said so were proven right, After those who’d always said no were proven wrong, After the nonstop cable news, After the experts were thanked for taking the time to come on, Scientists, anthropologists, aeronautical engineers, Philosophers, theologians, schoolchildren, After the think pieces and the op-eds and the tweets, After the Pope declared that they too had been created by God, After the Dalai Lama said that surely they had the Buddha nature, After billionaires bankrolled ways to reach them, After they suddenly flew away, As if they’d taken a long hard look at this world And decided they’d rather not get involved, There was nothing to do but go back to living The way we had before.