Lacking The Normal Response (Poetry)

I am worried about certain neighbours
they seem so uncomfortably odd
falling short of the blueprint for human
more like offspring of some ‘other’ god

I have watched from my second floor window
their various daily routines
and a few of them clearly are lacking
they behave like flesh-coloured machines

It’s a fanciful thought — I admit it
but I can’t get it out of my head
when their actions appear automatic
then I think of the term ‘walking dead’

Just this morning it dropped below freezing
a deep frost made the world winter-white
yet one neighbour was dressed like it’s summer
went bare-armed — a real bone-chilling sight!

Naked flesh quite immune to the climate
the old saying must surely be true —
quote ‘No sense = no feeling’ — for anyone else
would be shivering — skin turning blue

So I’ve come to the only conclusion
a warm-blooded observer like me
can reach — though I’m loath to declare it
I suspect this strange creature’s E.T.