Because of Mount St. Helens

Stacey A. Leybas

When the volcano erupted We watched the mountain crumble.

Stay inside, they told us. You are safer there. We listened and stayed.

The streets emptied. Schools and shops locked their doors. Do not come, they told us.

We spent a hundred thousand heartbeats waiting. Fear and the stories we heard kept us inside.

When we dared emerge with timid steps the air was thick with toxins.

Wear a mask, they told us. You are safer that way. We listened and masked.

We spent a million heartbeats behind layers of fabric sheltering our lungs, muling our voices.

But outside we found each other. Hope built momentum. We came together reclaiming repairing restoring recovering reviving, a thousand eforts moving as one.

The landscape, the mountain, was diferent after that. Like part of it was missing. Or maybe just diferent. But we were okay.

When the pandemic descended We watched the world crumble.

Stay inside, they told us. You are safer there. We listened and stayed.

The streets emptied. Schools and shops locked their doors. Do not come, they told us.

We spent ten million heartbeats waiting. Fear and the stories we heard kept us inside.

When we dared emerge with timid steps the air was thick with toxins.

Wear a mask, they told us. You are safer that way. We listened and masked.

We spent ifty million heartbeats behind layers of fabric sheltering our lungs, muling our voices.

But outside we found each other. Hope built momentum. We came together reclaiming repairing restoring recovering reviving, a million eforts moving as one.

The landscape, the world, will be diferent after this. Like part of it is missing. Or maybe just diferent. But we will be okay.