Monday, October 27, 2014

The Bony Stars

The Bony Stars


This colony lasted a score of generations
at first the population grew
they made homes of plastic and metal
plowed fields and grew crops
drove back the native woods
but in each generation, adults were smaller
the bones weak and thin,
a deficiency, perhaps
in essential minerals or vitamins.

like their other colonies
this one was abandoned
about 15,000 years ago
we are no closer to their home world
no closer to understanding what killed them
our ships find worlds, sweet and green
our people build colonies, families
while our pioneers find bones, always bones,
shallow graves and wilding fields
bones we clean, assemble, and display
in museums on a dozen worlds
I measure them, wonder who will study ours

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