silence.
as we extract from the sweet-toothed lagoons
their coral fangs
til their gums bleed each electrifying hue out in agony.
silence.
as we gnaw at the roots of mangrove trees,
their wooden knees now brittle,
relenting to the waves
as they crunch the shore’s shattered back.
silence.
as we plough through crystal clouds of heavens
with soot smoke
and chew out the ancient night stars
with LED lights.
silence.
as we smear the sea with rainbow grease
and plastic beads,
hunting down every graceful swimmer
til their eyes are mere grey orbs
frozen behind a glassed misery.
nothing but that goddamn silence.
as our machines poke at Earth’s pores,
pull out each minuscule hair
as we choke on it, feed on it,
dominate it,
without even a single resistance
til it’s just one crisped planet out of billions
drifting in cosmic space.
and when we’ve got nothing but a skeleton biome
to call home,
then will we become frenzied monsters screaming,
under the watchful gaze of our hating children,
for a vaccine, for some biological miracle
to greedily erase any memory of our
pitiful crime, like we always do.
i hope only silence answers us back.
Colin (Seungmo) Kim is a writer seeking to understand the world around him, reflecting on topics ranging from climate change to his own identity as an Asian youth. Currently a high school junior in South Korea, he spends his free time exploring his local coffee shops, digging his nose into a good fantasy novel, or enjoying a cup of hot chocolate. He continues to explore creative writing across languages, working in both English and his mother tongue, Korean.
Featured image by Merri J on Unsplash.
