"A Painted Haven" By Erinn Luo

Photo by Filip Bunkens on Unsplash

there’s a town.
west of a french quarter.
rows of suburban houses line the paved streets
decorations for every holiday hang bright
children play under the hot sun, licking ice cream
a culture develops, its history deep in tree roots.

not for much longer though.
cars will become heaps of submerged metal
the shadows of festivals will be eaten too
its hungry. very hungry. but it waits.
soon it will eat up the homes and people
It laces a net impossible to get free of.

but hope is not lost.
there is time to prevent more damage
as grains trickle down the hourglass
putting our minds to this. we have hope
we can push the water back.
calm the spreading ocean.

Erinn Luo is fourteen years old; she lives in Stony Brook, New York. Erinn spends her time volunteering at the Avalon Nature Preserve, part of the Avalon Nature Initiative, and the Destination Science summer camp; she also likes sketching still life and writing. Her passions include medicine and science, along with giving back to her community. Erinn’s writings are usually inspired by climate change and the hopes that we are able to come up with a solution for it.