A Natural Justice

If the earth should turn on us!

Unsplash — The New York Public Library

I wrote this after the French nation carried out their nuclear tests on Mururoa Atoll in 1996 with a possible prediction of a dramatic, climactic outcome.

Still

stood the earth

poised…

her pivot palls

her life seeps

as her heart breaks

*

Anchored by a slender sliver of light

to beyond and past

she spins…

dying on her axis

her dancing days over

her points blunted.

*

Unsplash — Naitian (Tony) Wang

Out of the depth, she cries

trembling mountains shed icy tears

that slice away her warmth

leaving her barren and distraught.

*

Rivers run yellow

with detritus and acid,

tender leaves wither on the vines