Roots of Resistance

by Andrew Maust

​She dedicated decades of her short human life
To drag this planet back from the brink
While a mass extinction event shredded through
Every tree, beast, and body of water that she had come to love

Living in a glass walled capsule, drinking her own piss
Finding strains of sorghum that were finally
Finally able to withstand acidic rain
Finally able to take root in oil soaked soil

Now her garden spreads, tendril by tendril
Over continents and mountains that remember
The old clear streams and misty rains
A sigh of relief cracks through crags and crevices

Her creased and calloused fingers now rest
On a mug of freshly poured coffee
Accepting this small offering
That the earth returned to her hands

Andrew Maust is a writer who grew up in Ecuador, and lived in the bewitching swamps of Southwest Louisiana before ending up in Mesa, Arizona. His work has been featured in MockingHeart Review, Radon Journal,  Utopia Science Fiction, and McSweeney's.