A Poem by Hellenora

AFTERMATH

Sleeping beneath

The surface of the earth,

A millennium waiting for just the

Right moment, and then a breakthrough.

Pressure building, temperature rising, banging on

The ceiling that was once the lock to your dark prison.

Deep breath, a pause, and then victorious rise through the

Earthy gate and ascending quickly above and beyond the mountainous

Landscape, into the sky and among the clouds, higher than you had known even existed.

You spread your cloudy, ashen wings and relish your freedom as you hang in the air and envelope the planet.

Another breath,

And a sudden collapse in thousands of tiny pieces,

Spilling over rock and dirt and living things.

And what was once a world full of

Unknown possibilities is now

A grey wasteland covered

In ash and deathly

Hot lava.