A Martian Sends a Postcard Home Summary & Analysis
by Craig Raine

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Craig Raine's "A Martian Sends a Postcard Home" is probably the best-known example of "Martian poetry," a British movement from the 1970s and 1980s. Its speaker, as the title suggests, is a Martian visiting Earth. Reporting back to Mars, the speaker describes various things on our planet—including rain, clocks, and dreams—from an alien perspective, making everyday phenomena seem strange. The poem's metaphors and imagery cast human life in an unexpected light; at times, the Martian's descriptions even feel like puzzles for the reader. "A Martian Sends a Postcard Home" was collected in Raine's 1980 volume of the same title.

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