Fragment From A History Of Space Station Earth

That year everything was in reverse.
Instead of expelling their foliage,
trees retracted, folding in on themselves,
as if in retreat from the sun,
leaves gradually drew in and were reborn
as buds, then as cells of pure energy.

The sun itself grew shy
and reticent, expending
its radiation profligately,
having lost its ability
to recharge and renew itself.

Men and women and their progeny
gazed up at the night sky
and cursed and wailed
that fate had at last betrayed them.

Long revered human feelings
such as love and empathy
vanished, quashed by
fear and uncertainty
and from all quarters of the earth
a creeping wall of silence
was closing in.