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The house is old, the wood that frames
it tired of the burden of holding

up the walls. The roof took flight
long ago, a storm it thinks,

or perhaps the shingles
just decided, en masse, to fly

like birds, to warmer climes,
the great migration of the material

abandoning the nest like fledgling
chicks. Between the floorboards seedlings rise,

pushing it aside to reach the light, which is the way
of things, it supposes. The old house shudders,

vines and creepers circle the crumbling frame, thin
arms lithe and loving, a comfort.

It's not so bad it thinks,
to be abandoned by the people

who cut down its trees, drove nails
into its limbs, sheltered themselves

within its body. Now finally it is
left to crumble, to become soil

again, leaving manmade dreams behind
for the natural, wild world, for dust.



Lynette Mejía writes science fiction, fantasy, and horror prose and poetry from the middle of a deep, dark forest in the wilds of southern Louisiana. Her work has appeared in Daily Science Fiction, Nature: Futures, and others, and has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize, the Rhysling Award, and the Million Writers Award. You can find her online at www.lynettemejia.com.
Current Issue
18 Sep 2023

Ama’s arm rested protectively around the girl’s shoulder as the giant bird glided above, its head angling right to left. Violet-black wings soared across a cloudless sky, blocking the sun’s midday rays and swathing sections of the village in deep shadow. Given its size, this argentavis was one of her first, but too far above for her to differentiate by name. Even across the distance, Ama could feel its heartbeat synced to hers, their lives intertwined until death.
She is leaving the world that is pink with desire, on her gray cardboard rocket ship.
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