“Consequences of a Stolen Star” by Beth Cato
if the girl could catch a star
the days would not be so dark
or so cold
if she could catch a star
she would grind it into flour
for her family’s bread
mother’s cough wouldn’t be as fierce
or father’s fisherman hands
chapped and brittle
brother might live yet
those city bells again silent
as a blooming rose
yet if she caught a star
she could never again look
at the night sky
the empty space she made
the girl thieves earthly things
she lives with the hunger
and the cold
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Nebula-nominated Beth Cato is the author of the Clockwork Dagger duology and the Blood of Earth trilogy from Harper Voyager. She’s a Hanford, California, native transplanted to the Arizona desert, where she lives with her husband, son, and requisite cats. Follow her at BethCato.com and on Twitter at @BethCato. |