My son, listen.
In 24 months the ash and dust
will fall down from the sky,
and we will see the sun.
In the ground are seeds—
Yes, yes all the plants are dead.
And all the animals bigger than scarab beetles;
but the seeds have been waiting in the ground.
When the soil warms and the sun shines,
they will grow.
And somewhere there is a frog in the mud at the bottom of a pond. . .
That first spring will be unlike anything anyone’s ever seen—
The living things that grow will grow like mad,
and fill up all the gaps in the land, in the world.
Also someone somewhere, someone who will have been
eating beans from a can for twenty-four months,
has a drawer full of seeds;
and the world right away
will be covered again with corn
wheat squash barely carrots roses (why not)
sorghum oats alfalfa potatoes garlic
Blueberries
and we will find many more people,
friends to help us, and we won’t have to hide
anymore, and there will be other boys
your own age to play with, in sunlight.
Yes, someone has seeds in a drawer.
Next year, that’s next year. Lay down
your little head and rest. You are
safe, safe for now and until spring comes,
my son