poetry
Ourasphaira giraldae Awakens
by H.V. Patterson in Issue Twelve, December 2023
Gods writ microscopic,
we are the children of extremes
chitin-clothed, long-dead spores enduring still,
ghosts of ghosts
a billion years dead
For millennia,
we collected your buried tribute
flesh, blood, bones
plastics, garbage, toxic sludge
every sacrifice you unknowingly gave
Now, we emerge from melting permafrost
from chthonic darkness
from fossilized decay
We are the plural gods of Tartarus,
heralds of humanity’s end,
and our hungry spores will root
in your soft and sinful flesh
© 2023 H.V. Patterson
H.V. Patterson
H.V. Patterson (she/her) is a speculative poet, fiction writer, and playwright living in Oklahoma. Poetry credits include ETTT, Star*Line, Small Wonders and anthologies from Sliced Up Press, Angry Gable Press, and Black Spot Books. Her poem "Mother; Microbes" was selected for the inaugural Brave New Weird anthology from Tenebrous Press. She’s a cofounder of Horns and Rattles Press, and you can find her on X: @ScaryShelley, Instagram: @hvpattersonwriter, or at hvpatterson.com.