Gretel Survives the Witch, Only to Ecounter Climate Change, by Zoë Landale

Photo by Pablo Corry

February is the tipping month here.      dorsal sails

Islands lumber through morning fog like whales,

surface sunny, surprised, at noon, austere

in sudden ramped-up light, warmth prevailing

over winter’s abstraction, dropped berries

bright breadcrumbs

of story: this is the way the world sails

away, hollies’ red periods miscarry;         be wary of complacent cottages

no sweet ending, none of us can stand

and deliver Stop, the gravid hurry

of seasons’ open-ended expanding

into the burst realm of myth, the silver         burst

firework of life-as-we-once-knew-it grand

but moving on, whale breath a grey quiver;

as the known rolls, dives, can we recover?

Gretel, are you—

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