after Emily St. John Mandel’s Station Eleven
Hush, my starship, survival is a dream
where what we know ends: crowds, electricity,
dread. The dial turned just two degrees, our screens
flicker with snow & fever then go blank—
the former world a loop we loved & couldn’t help
escape. You won’t remember avatars or planes,
but we sleepwalked through the days afraid;
if, if—we sang—if, then
now no more streetlights no more cities
no more trains time sunk
like ships & sidewalks time seeded & reset
now once again & only
love the darkened woods the moon
–
Violeta Garcia-Mendoza is the author of Songs for the Land-Bound (June Road Press, 2024). Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in Sugar House Review, Alaska Quarterly Review, RHINO, The Slowdown, and elsewhere. Violeta lives with her family on a small certified wildlife habitat in suburban western Pennsylvania.