Dystopian Nightmare
What Have we Become…
An achromatic darkness still haunts me,
In the distance a barrel fire burns
I hunch, hiding from something ungodly
A noise in the distance seizes my concern.
Flailing greensward reeds chafe my neck and face,
Crouched down I hide, my adrenaline rising
I cringe at the thought of me being effaced
As the bones of my skeleton keep tightening
Past the brush is a vacant underpass
Same broken van abandoned like in the movies
Doors half-cocked surrounded by broken glass
and that barrel fire still burning smoothly.
I hide my skin under the city smog
The toxic cloud that envelopes my fate
Not yet will I reveal my epilogue
My first steps I take toward St. Peter’s gate.
My steps now in trash and sewer vapors
Bums sit there in yesterday’s endeavors
I think to myself, who was that savior—
When the heart of humanity was severed?
Funny how I care about barrel fires
and this dumpster fire is what we’re left with,
the flames burn alike but with different ire
like killing swords made by career blacksmiths.
Achromatic darkness, no sunlight to blind
No colors to enliven this bleakest slate
No backspace button to erase the time
just captivated by destruction and hate.
See how this landscape darkened without you.
Churches with unlocked doors and outstretched palms
Except the palms are no more and the pews
are caked with dust along with their books of psalms.
There is no refuge for the weak, the broken.
Survival of the fittest is the motto.
Each day the heavens look like their smoking
Our tattered clothes are worn like desperados.
We run from bad guys our breaths staccato
like someone’s punching from inside the chest
and the lasting feeling is just hollow,
still we are alive, and for that we are blessed.
Some nights we gather inside of the barn,
Throw some Christmas lights up and try to dance
The generator runs with gas from the farm,
the one where I had my first stab at romance.
But the past is just that, and we move on
If we didn’t then the past would consume us
Like some plague sitting there waiting to spawn,
We need to move on, that’s just being human.
Where roads were travelled is now just grass.
Where love was consummated, now dregs of ash.
No stones being thrown inside a house of glass
The world has ended in a blinding flash
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A dismal possibility, but one decision of egocentric play away from reality. We walk the edge of a deep abyss, and those of us who think, see it coming closer by the moment. If not for hope, we would all just shrug and jump into that void. Nicely structured with excellent phrasing and wordplay as always Paul. Great work.
How true my friend. I hope if this ever happens humanity is strong enough to survive. We walk that line too often nowadays. Thank you for your kind words.
A frightening thought our world may end up in such horrid condition. There is still hope for a better future. Great work, Paul.
Thank you Phyllis. I hope it never comes to this. Glad you enjoyed it.
Most creative and imaginative poetry that reflects a great deal of truth. Hopefully, the world can still become a better place.
Sadly it does reflect certain truth. There had to be some form of change so we dont go down this path. Thank you so much for your kind words
Wonderfully written but very concerning, Paul. It seems every year the world and humanity are getting closer and closer to such an unfortunate outcome. Can we become aware and turn things around? I would like to think so, but with each year that passes without significant action to rectify the situation, it becomes more difficult. Thanks for sharing.
It seems like this is the inevitable fate of humanity. All systems fail and it’s every man, woman and child for themselves. I hope it never comes to this. I’m glad you enjoyed this and thank you for your kind words
Paul I echo the sentiments of all the other writers here, we are in a sad state and our world is becoming more fragile by the minute. All types of indicators have been shown to us, earthquakes, floods, wars, melting of ice caps, pollution, tornadoes, hurricanes. All spelling death and bringing us closer to that horrible apocalypse we all fear and dread. I pray that man will change his ways for the good and listen to mother nature, we are on a delicate balance, walking a tight rope and only we can make the necessary changes.
The tight rope keeps losing more and more twine as we continue down a path of destruction. Almost seems like too little too late. Thank you again my friend for your kind words.