Brendan Keaton

WELL, YOU KNOW IT'S MARS

Honestly, I could not tell you how long we have been looking for this treasure
Not because I didn’t know, I was sure multiple decades had passed
It’s just my throat has been so dry since we ran out of supplies
I continued my trudge although I was barely making progress
The many plans and routes we took, the longevity, I was not going to give up on the
treasure
But I remember the last one who passed told me to try my best to make it back home
His comrades before his passing delivered the same message to us all as we were
huddled around as it started to rain profusely
Eventually it stopped and we were more inspired then ever
We wanted to honor the sacrifice as this red planet was a lonely place to die
The treasure no longer became the focus
Everyone was tired of yet again the same scene
We were the characters in a tragedy of cycle
We sought something that we knew didn’t exist
The journey there was way better then actually making it
We lost half the crew and the crew remaining was crippled upon landing
Those healthy began to create factions to monopolize supplies
No one even looked for the treasure
After the skirmishes between the factions, the leaders came to an agreement
They decided to disband the factions and, united they would support each other
There were less than ten people remaining, but we were on Mars
There was still no progress in establishing what direction to take
One side wanted to focus our energies on returning
The other half wanted to at least find something that resembled treasure
We split up and we never saw the people who planned on returning to Earth
I hope they made it back, I wonder how long it’s been since we left them
We desperately looked for the treasure until the first of us died
Then a domino effect that we couldn’t avoid
We simply were not meant to look for treasure on Mars
No one wanted to look for treasure anymore and yet
We didn’t even have the choice to decide
What a lonely red planet

THE VOICE THAT NATURE ADORED

Time was rather patient, there was nowhere to run but your eyes onlooked
a marathon
Her voice wavered over the wind mute, it was like she told nature a secret
and I couldn’t read lips
The petrichor scent from the rain flooded our noses, she was capable of
making nature cry, we had to accommodate the downpour of tears
The sun was faint as it almost set over the warm horizon signaling the end
of its shift
The flowers were as they danced and swayed effortlessly to the whistles of
the wind
It was a sight to behold, the wonder in my eyes permeated through the
entirety of my body
But it was a sight to forget as the scenery was always so repetitively
unchanging
A painting from a diligent artist but a blink always changed the perception
I couldn’t help but admire the beauty although it was trivial and subjective
I felt the lines that outline a fingerprint contact my fingers as these two blue
eyes froze my being
She undid the strap of the umbrella and the roof provided proved the night
much younger than it was
“Do you want to watch the rain today”
I was speechless rather still frozen but how could I refuse those ocean
eyes that drown me
The rain was merciless, the flowers looked overpowered as they were bent
out of shape and the ripping of roots were like someone digging for
treasure
The wind scattered the plants in all directions, they all looked so alone
flying away from each other
Her eyes were that of statue, she had seen this happen all before, it
resurfaced emotions she froze
The sweatiness of my hand influenced the umbrella to slip from my grasp
and the rain briefly fell on us, I didn’t feel a thing
The silence was overbearing, I could no longer hear the rain drops, the
wind howls, we were only silhouettes in a painting

She whispered what looked to be her final words and the rain stopped and
the clouds dispersed
She departed and disappeared; I must have made her up, yet I never heard
the real her
I’ll have to remember to bring an umbrella next time, Surely, I will see her
again
I wonder what her secret is that makes nature heed her voice