rookery

by D.A. Xiaolin Spires

they came in droves

in cyclones and

rainfall, in windstorms

and pelting hail

each icy rock—

heavenfall—

a tiny drone

delicate wings

filigree work,

they lay inert

like cicada

broods—

emerging

mating

and death

but it seemed

backwards

their inertness

came to life

so it went—

death

mating

emergence

they arrived lifeless

but somehow

buffeted by gusts

kicked by feet

tormented by dust,

moved towards

one another

clung hard

and fused—

new beings

conceived

multi-winged

still tiny still flittering

but bigger, bolder

shooting skyward

until they pierced the atmo

outward and onward,

into the spatial heavens—

stuck on our planet

we watched—

for us it was a home,

for them

just mating grounds

a copulation nest

disposable rookery

D.A. Xiaolin Spires steps into portals and reappears in sites such as Hawai'i, NY, various parts of Asia and elsewhere, with her keyboard appendage attached. She has a Ph.D. in socio-cultural anthropology, writes speculative fiction and poetry, teaches martial arts, paints fantastical art in sumi ink and acrylic and convenes around tabletop games and RPG’s. Her multifaceted writing, including fiction and non-fiction, reflects her interest in food systems, ecology, technology and society. 

Her work appears in publications such as Clarkesworld, Analog, Strange Horizons, Nature, Terraform, Uncanny, Galaxy's Edge and anthologies of the strange and beautiful: Deep Signal, Ride the Star Wind, Make Shift, Broad Knowledge, Future Visions and Battling in All Her Finery. Select stories can be read in German, Spanish, Vietnamese, Japanese, Estonian and French translation. Her works have been selected for The Year’s Top Robot and AI Stories and The Year’s Top Tales of Space and Time Stories, with poetry nominated for Dwarf Star, Rhysling, Best of the Net and Pushcart awards. She can be found on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/spires.bsky.social, Patreon: www.patreon.com/daxiaolinspires and her website: daxiaolinspires.wordpress.com.