Mother Earth and Daughter Moon
Stand in a charred forest
All around them is the smell
Of life extinguished
Tornadic winds tangle their gossamer
Gowns but they do not move as the
Twister jumps past them
Raising dust and soil that used to hold life
The candles they both hold flicker
But do not go out

Only they can end this, with a final breath

Daughter Moon leans against her mother
“I thought they would come to me
Change me
Live on me
Fill me with greenery like you used to be
I hoped for that with all my heart”
Mother Earth rests her head on her child’s
And cries with her
“Perhaps in time
Life will grow again” — it is a kind gesture
But Daughter Moon is not fooled

They blow their candles out as one

[Gerri Leen lives in Northern Virginia and originally hails from Seattle. In addition to being an avid reader, she’s passionate about horse racing, tea, and collecting encaustic art and raku pottery. She has stories and poems in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Nature, Strange Horizons, Dark Matter and others, and is a member of SFWA and HWA. See more at gerrileen.com.]