The lesser of two evils

There was only one monster that existed on our Planet
In our culture, to say a name is to invite it, so we never gave it a name
It came only at night, so we made sure to live in the day
We never saw it, but we knew it was waiting hidden in darkness
We never heard it, but the screams of its victims rang in the air
We never saw its tracks, only a neighbour missing when the sun came up,
but we could feel it, on the other side of the wall, waiting, hoping, begging,
for someone foolish enough to step into the dark
We had a right to see the moon, the stars, and the night sky

We prayed to our gods to save us, for a sign from the heavens to help us take back what should be ours
There used to be many, we tried to tame them at first
But one of them attacked us, so we hunted them down
“They were dangerous,” we said, but one of them got away
It may have been here first, but it's time should be over
Sometimes weeks would go by, and we would get lax, we would hope our prayers had
been answered, we would venture out into the dark, to reclaim what was ours
But always it returned, to claim a prize

One day a sign from the Heavens arrived, turning night into day
The engines of their ships cast our village in light as they promised to give us what should have been ours
They were like us, with two legs, and two arms, and they wanted to be friends
The visitors gave us food, knowledge and connection like we had never known before
They asked for little, only land and goods, it was a deal too good to be true, so we gladly accepted

There were no monsters that existed on our Planet, we were free at last
But as days turned into months, they asked for more and more
They promised us the heavens, but they took our gods and our rites
Until one of us attacked them, so they hunted us down
“We were dangerous,” they said, but some of us escaped
They forced us into hiding, razing our homes

There is but one monster that exists on our Planet.
In our culture, to say a name is to invite it, and they gave us their name.
They came only in the day, so we had to hide till the night.
We saw them descend from their ship, weapons gleaming in the light.
We heard their boots march in unison, as our martyrs died with no voice
We felt them everywhere, as their boots crushed our bones, but they never intended for us to slip into the shadows, hiding from sight. Hoping, begging, praying to our gods to save us.
We had a right to see the sun, the clouds, and the blue sky.

There is but one monster that exists on our Planet.

In their culture they called themselves Humans, and they said they came in peace.