Tamala Shelton

The Last Frozen Pond

First we lost streams. Water that gurgled over rocks and splashed against earth banks, their ancient source dried up and vanished forever. Birds swallowed their coos and critters scurried to nowhere, never to be seen again. Numb, we turned away from the news as each day it announced another species extinct. We lived in the remains of another time, reaping what we did not sew.