Earth Can Be Hell Poem by Robin Bennett

Never could I tell if the sun led-
to our burn out or did you tire of me
I did what I always do,
I spun my tales of heartbreak on Saturn's rings
Overcome with anorexic thin air,
I tried to inhale you-

Paramount gales traveling-
bitterly across her rings,
leaves me clinging for life,
Breathlessly alone in
the dark-
Frightens me now;
tears don't shed in space.

I am no better back on Earth-
a tree without roots, soon to
suffer an agonizing, slow death.
Ironically, we had carved our
initials into the bark of this
very same tree. It seems so
utterly obscene now.

I dreamt Earth was another
planet's version of hell.
Extreme heat, heartache,
death, disease. I felt the sun
scorch my back today. Maybe
it was flares rising from hell
to warn me of what is yet to come.