Redemption Story

By Hayley Stone

At night I think of those who came 
before me, who lived in damp alleys,
and died with their teeth clenched
in the black chemical rain believing
this was the end. Of their world

 so much remains beyond fossilized
plastics, dead coral forests, and smoke-
drowned woods. I wish they could see
everything that survived, everything
that came back, like the drooping

head of an untended flower brought
upright by careful attention. I wish
I could show them the widening gyre
of debris choking their Pacific Ocean
reduced to a clear-eyed patch of sea

and the countless animals rehomed
there now. Their efforts mattered.
That’s what I would say to them. Not
that they would believe me, not that
I would blame them after watching

 clearcuts pushing up to the suburbs,
whales wearing their own bones as
sad necklaces, children attending
funerals for each other, caught
in the bullish charge of adults.

The prognosis is chronic, not terminal.
Ask the mountains, and they’ll tell you
the bones are good, despite the ache.
The world persists in its recovery.
Across this shared millennia of Earth

are a thousand-thousand chances to turn
the ship. At night I think of those who came 
before me: a guilty generation of stewards
who believed they failed to save the world
when all they did was leave the party too soon.

—

About Hayley Stone

Stone is an award-winning author, poet, and game writer, best known for her weird western, Make Me No Grave, and the post-apocalyptic sci-fi series, Last Resistance. Her short fiction has appeared in such markets as The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction and Apex Magazine, among others, while her poetry has been featured in Liminality, Star*Line, and more. She currently works as an associate narrative designer for Obsidian Entertainment. Find her on Twitter @hayley_stone or at her website: www.hayleystone.com