A Magazine of Many Arts

this world is not of our choosing
no
we did not choose this world
of dense black forests
and thick yellow fog
and stinging rain

woken
too soon
from our centuriesâ€™ sleep
stranded
beneath strange stars

and our children died
and our children died
and our children died

the trees shivered with our grief
and drank our tears
and their trunks split wide
pink wood
and wet

and we tucked our children inside
those who could not breathe
whose eyes burned and bled
whose skin blistered and broke

dense black bark knit and grew
sealing our children
within their warm wet trunks

and the stinging rain fell
and the thick yellow fog flowed
among the dense black trees
and the strange stars became familiar

when the trees crack open
will they still be our children?

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