War of the Worlds

For centuries, the Martians, jealous, watched the Earth;
they kept Uganda ever centred in their sight
and sent their missiles to confront Earth's greatest force.
They landed, building fighting tools throughout the night.
A steel giraffe on Nile's bank in silhouette
to challenge ours, illuminated by eight lights.

Notes

The picture Night and Lights was taken by the poet Chandana R and used as a prompt for her contest https://allpoetry.com/contest/2887570-Photo-prompt.-Night-and-Lights/

The outline of the crane reminded me of a giraffe, and brought to mind the creation of fighting machines by the Martians in Well’s “The War of the World”. I wondered if they had been looking at  Murchison Falls National Park, on the Nile River, they may have had a different idea of which species was the most important on the earth. © 11 Jan 2026