White stars twinkle against a bruised sky,
as the sun hangs low in the West.
Tree skeletons, with their sinewy arms,
cradle a heavy head.

The moon appears, “sick and pale with grief,”
At the sight of his long-lost lover asleep.
Juliet, whose glowing cheek grows faint,
as if by pilgrim’s words, became a saint.

The sunflowers don spiderweb veils,
carefully beaded with dew.
They lower their heads in reverence,
as he solemnly bids adieu.

“Here’s to my love!” the moon cries,
as he fades into the bright blue sky.
The Sun awakes, with sleep laden eyes,
To witness the lark sing and her Romeo die.

BIO: Teresa Kustas has attended SUNY-ESF for two years now. She has been working towards a major in Environmental Studies and a minor in Environmental Writing and Rhetoric. Her poem references William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, in which she found a fitting metaphor for the orbiting of the earth, sun and moon.