Project Fear
A day filled with Friday life
a February blue sky
counting seventeen degrees of sun
absurdly sitting outside,
shining shoes reflecting rays
birds singing happily confused.
I fear the shrubs will bud
and be lost in next week’s frost.
I fear this may Be It,
an early Spring lends to Summer,
March will bring a heatwave,
April May a drought.
By August we’ll have wilted
unable to brush off flies,
the lawn withered and died.
The sea will be upon us,
lapping at the fields
all of Brussels flooded
waste tangled in the trees.
There will be no streets
for the young to march upon
The rich will move back up the hills,
the poor fighting for a home
thirsty and destroyed.
And we will remember
our discomforting pleasure
on this warm winter day
shining shoes outside.
Emma is a social activist and poet living in the Belgian countryside with her family and many animals.