Dazed they were, and scared,
lying on the cold stones,
their arms and legs green.
Not the dark green of ivy,
not the yellow green of apples
ripe on the summer bough,
nor the deep green of the ocean
where it leans against its bed.
They were the green of leeks,
of new–furled feather fern,
of the early leaf breaking soil.
When they opened their eyes,
their eyes were green, too,
and the little hairs on their arms
were inchworm green.
They spoke a green language
which the trees and flowers knew
but which we did not.
The boy died of a wasting,
the girl lived on,
eating broad beans,
forgetting her green tongue,
growing whiter with each day;
till she was christened
and married and all all white.
Not the white of milk
after the cream is skimmed off,
nor the white of October snow,
nor the white of a spring lily,
waxen and still,
nor the white of sea pearls
formed within the shell.
She was the white of the old moon
that shines over the hall.
About the Author: Jane Yolen is the multi-award-winning author of over two hundred books for adults, adolescents, and children, including fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and folktale collections. Her most recent book of poetry is The Radiation Sonnets.
About the Poem: "Green Children" was inspired The Green Children legend in British folklore.
Copyright © 1993 by Jane Yolen. The poem first appeared in Asimov's SF, July 2003 and may not be reproduced in any form without the author's express written permission.