Alone in Eden

There’s a bug on a leaf,
My sister watches the rain clouds gather
And they roll like hills hanging upside down

The sky seems like a quilt of gray threads
And every blade of smooth, green, nearly plastic grass
Is weighed down by dew
There’s a stone covered in rough moss
It resembles the heads of broccoli stalks

There’s a storm over my head,
But I do not fear the thunder

My sister runs along inside,
The swans are on the pond aimlessly floating
The leaves sound like they do when the wind pushes through them
But it’s just the rain tapping on their thin skin

The beetles smell badly,
So I toss loose, moist dirt on them
I feel the wet cotton of my shirt with my hand
I smell of sweat and rain
I see a long slender lizard creeping across some twigs
Dead leaves are everywhere
Dead leaves and green

I fall asleep in the yard and wake up to see deer
They are a family in the garden
I watch them watch me
But a stray dog chases them away
Its strands of sick hair are tied together by the rain
And it barks, and whimpers while limping on its three legs…

…And I am alone in Eden