Home
Rochester Speculative Literature Association

2034: Writing Rochester's Futures

  • Foreword: Writing Rochester's Futures
  • Introduction
  • Acknowledgements
  • "GeneLove"
  • "Interesting Times"
  • "Culinary Capital, 2034"
  • "Night Bells"
  • "2034"
  • "Hollow Lives"
  • "The Naked Girl"
  • "Time Enough for Love"
  • "Day of the Bicentennial"
  • "Picoat"
  • "One City at a Time"
  • "Want Not"
  • "The Costs of Survival"
  • "Getting Wet"
  • "Top 10 Headlines, Rochester, NY, 2034"
  • "North Star Pipeline"
  • "The 2034 Lilac Festival"
  • "Scotch and Sizzlenuts on the Resolute Bay"
  • "Fads (or Why Jerry Loathes the Aliens)" [FULL TEXT, AVAILABLE ONLINE ONLY]

"2034"

By: 
Rory Gillett

The Times Square Building
towers above
her majestic wings
calling to the Heavens,
pleading for the redemption
of her dying city.

Dusk falls
even the mightiest skyscrapers
are nothing more
than concrete giants,
silhouettes
against the auburn sky.

Sirens echo
reminiscently,
through empty streets.

Ontario breathes,
sending murky waves
caressing the battered shore.
Poseidon cries
for there are no stars,
just satellites and wayward jets,
illuminating the cold black sky.

The lilacs didn’t bloom
as if to spite
those who exploit them,
the flower city.
The ferris wheel still
turns though,
soothingly
in reverent silence.

Kodak’s ancient stacks,
like a chain smoking grandmother,
pump smog
into the starless sky.

As he whored religion,
to fill his pockets
a televangelist once proclaimed,
only Jesus
could save this city.
If only,
if only a Savior would come
and restore former glory.

These thoughts
are nothing more than
wishful delusions
of lifeless souls
waiting.

Waiting
for death to come
like a crow,
a tiny abyss
circling the winter sky,
taking each under
a tattered wing
and carrying them
out of hell.

Author Info: 

Rory Gillett is a senior at Brighton High School. He likes to write and play music, and make art.

‹ "Night Bells" up "Hollow Lives" ›
Become a Member

R-Spec Press

  • 'From the Lockdown' 2021 Short-Story Contest
    • March 2021 Winner: "Pest Control", by Amy Aderman
    • April 2021 Winner: "Baby Grand", by Jack Feerick
    • May 2021 Winner: "Reading Glasses," by Sally Caves
  • Rochester Rewritten: Rochester in the Alternative
    • Buy through our online store
  • 2034: Writing Rochester's Futures
    • Buy through our online store
  • Home
  • Speculations
  • Writing
  • News
  • Blog(s)
  • About
Syndicate content

All content is © its author. Contact. Sitemap. Privacy. | Log in
Powered by InterServer