Size / / /

We have had many visions:
the world dried like a raisin,
cracked mudflats or windblown deserts
as far as a satellite's eye could see;

or drowned liked a child in the bathtub,
sunken spires of skyscrapers
the substrate of coral reefs,
and on the liquid surface, silence;

or frozen like an ancient alpine traveler,
the rags of roads and cities
clawed to shreds by blizzards,
awakened glaciers grinding all to rubble.

But we have not had the vision
of dust-borne darkness, the world curtained
by meteors, volcanoes, or nuclear blast,
the cold, the asphyxiation, the extinction.

 

Copyright © 2001 Stephen R. Compton

Reader Comments


S. R. Compton is an occasional poet; in the last century, he appeared in Star*Line, Velocities, and Alba. He works as a senior copy editor at PC World magazine in San Francisco.



S.R. Compton is an occasional poet. In the last century, he had poems in Star*Line, Velocities, and Alba. He works as a senior copy editor at PC World Magazine in San Francisco.
Current Issue
18 Nov 2024

Your distress signals are understood
Somehow we’re now Harold Lloyd/Jackie Chan, letting go of the minute hand
It was always a beautiful day on April 22, 1952.
By: Susannah Rand
Podcast read by: Claire McNerney
In this episode of the Strange Horizons Fiction podcast, Michael Ireland presents Little Lila by Susannah Rand, read by Claire McNerney. Subscribe to the Strange Horizons podcast: Spotify
Friday: The 23rd Hero by Rebecca Anne Nguyen 
Issue 11 Nov 2024
Issue 4 Nov 2024
Issue 28 Oct 2024
Issue 21 Oct 2024
By: KT Bryski
Podcast read by: Devin Martin
Issue 14 Oct 2024
Issue 7 Oct 2024
By: Christopher Blake
Podcast read by: Emmie Christie
Issue 30 Sep 2024
Issue 23 Sep 2024
By: LeeAnn Perry
Art by: nino
Issue 16 Sep 2024
Issue 9 Sep 2024
Load More