Jada Janneau

Somewhere in the Future

Jada Janneau

As the angels surround our hero, And as the sky burns with two suns, She gives the world a smile, Knowing there’s nothing here to be done.

Years behind this day before us, And years behind our hero’s great plight, The world was crumbling to pieces From the weight of wealthy greed at great heights.

Sotiras tried to stop it then, With the angels by her side and the mortals on the sand, But the Plusios didn’t listen to a lord and savior Who didn’t march like a man.

As the oceans overflowed with bones and palpable fog, And the cities were crushed by overwhelming smog, The merciless gods, the Plusios, took what foliage was left And chopped it to pieces, their movements deft.

For years beyond that, they sent their remains to other mountain ranges And hoped that the people there could hide it for ages, And the Plusios blamed them for the stench and the stains. But people like Sotiras knew all their secrets, And she wanted to stop them, no matter the treatments.

She once tried to dispose of all their expensive rubbish To the reusable mound of disposed-of items, But upon further inspection of that great recycled pile, She soon found they’ve been burning it to make an awful climate.

She once tried to sail the great ocean blue And clean up the plastic that blankets the view, But the garbage patch stretched beyond the horizon, Somehow not far enough to make the Plusios wisen.

Despite this obstacle, she tried her best, Proving that Sotiras was a savior to the rest. But as she picked up the worst of it all, More showered from the sky like noxious rainfall.

But behind the scenes and away from our hero, The Plusios had a plan right at ground zero. Their wealth and their riches opened all doors ahead, So despite all their pollution, they wanted to live. Instead of changing their ways and providing a safe place, They built a machine to explore outer space.

This machine could hold only a few, Which convenienced them plenty considering their view: Mortals disadvantaged are not worth a thought, Not when there’s money to be made upon their knot.

This machine was supposed to reach the heavens (The Plusios couldn’t even get to Planet Seven). So in just under ten years, the machine was built, Engine revving to life as the mortals died.

This machine ran on trees and algae, on weeds and fungi, And all of the water that frogs lived by. So the Plusios took angels and treated them cruel, And stuffed them in their tank to use them as fuel.

When Sotiras found out about this great machine, She told all her people, and she gathered her strength. The mortals told her, as they choked on the toxins, That in just a few months, they’d be nothing but dust.

So Sotiras called on her only friends, Her only believers, her only strength: The last of the angels, who loved her

Till death did them part, Came at her call, they came with their hearts.

As she gazed at their leaves and their green and their gold, A dozen roses bloomed inside her, broken free from chokehold. Her strength in arms and her flowers in blossom, She couldn’t do it alone. This much was known.

The angels kissed upon her furrowed brow. They told her they’d fight to save the ground, To save the mortals from fumes and extinction, To save the one planet that’s sheltered without restriction.

The Plusios felt threatened, but not nearly with ignorance, And this fact itself makes all of the difference.

War between them went for many years At the suffering of mortals, at the fall of many angels. Eventually, Sotiras was no longer a savior. The only angels left shed tears at the losses, And Sotiras fell to the sword of a monster.

At the edge of that sword, Sotiras was bleeding water, The very kind the great machine would slaughter. The Plusios told her that their planet was doomed. Though once upon a time, there was room for her, too, But since she won’t obey them, there was nothing to do.

As they marched to their machine, Making a dishonorable scene, Sotiras sucked in her last few breaths, The air a toxic mess.

She found peace on the ground, among the dead dirt, Among all of life’s hurt, And her planet’s last angels found her there. They kissed her wounds, They caressed her hair.

The great machine, In its pollution and ill-means, Took off with a burning light, Most like the sun in the sky.

Sotiras watched this light As she bled her liquid life, And deep down inside, She knew the truth.

The Plusios were selfish, unbothered, and confused. They didn’t understand mortal wounds. They couldn’t comprehend what it’s like to love. In fact, they didn’t care about much at all.

Maybe themselves and the money of others, And just about whatever they could take From strong love, like a mother’s.

Sotiras believes the heavens hold the innocent, And wherever the Plusios land, They’d be punished, set to imprisonment. Be it hell or high water, They were doomed from the start.

As the angels surround our hero, And as the sky burns with two suns, She gives the world a smile, Knowing there’s nothing here to be done.