In Case of Emergency: A Poem by Alethea Kontis

This poem is from the December 2023 issue of Worlds of Possibility. The ebook of the entire issue is available to download for free as an end of the year gift here: https://www.juliarios.com/the-december-2023-issue-of-worlds-of-possibility/

In Case of Emergency
by Alethea Kontis

I kept her Mint-in-Box
Tied up tight
Safe and dusted
Some fool would pay a ton for her someday
Enough to buy a better car
A better house
A better life
Someday
In case of emergency
And then came Pestilence
and War
(Famine and Death were already here to begin with)
Volcanoes and earthquakes
Storms and asteroids
Rockets that couldn’t leave Earth fast enough
So even though no fool wanted her
I broke the glass and untied
Emerged from that box
Got in a car and drove into the storm
Lived that life
Unsafe, unapologetic
With gratitude for this Earth
and that Chaos
(The emergency was already here to begin with)

About the Author

Alethea Kontis is a storm chaser, adventurer, and New York Times bestselling author of over 20 books and 50 short stories. She has received the Scribe Award, the Garden State Teen Book Award, and is a two-time winner of the Gelett Burgess Children’s Book Award. She was twice nominated for both the Andre Norton Nebula and Dragon Award. She narrates stories for online magazines and reviews books for NPR. Born in Vermont, Alethea currently resides on the Space Coast of Florida where she watches K-dramas with her teddy bear, Charlie. Together they are ARMY, VVS, and Black Roses. Find out more about Princess Alethea at aletheakontis.com