moon spring

Lydia Wegerman Gemzöe

there is no spring on the moon
no dried-up snow, no pebbles
stuck in sneaker soles,
no sweater-weather, no skipping-rope,
no baby leaf gust of wind on pale cheeks,
no nesting birdsong, no tilt
in its axis, no atmosphere to trap or shield off heat
but an exosphere that in the cold lunar night
falls solid to the ground,
unbreathable

there is no dark side of the moon
only eternal darkness for fifteen earth-days
and fifteen earth-days of eternal sun
there is eternal darkness
in young hearts mourning
the death of spring as long as autumn,
as long as three moon days and three moon nights

the moon gave earth its long spring
by stabilising the wobble in its
axial tilt
now spring has grown shorter than a moon day
a sharp inhale of april
dying into summer

when the sun burns forests
that are not forests but
timber fields, money trees

and the ecosystem,
by pollution and pesticides and
plastic plastic plastic and over-production and over-
consumption and chlorine cleaners
and fabric softeners
and artificial
fertilisers
suffocates

until there is no rebirth
only eternal summer.

there are places on earth where
the atmosphere is

unbreathable