When Breath No Longer Gives Life
Breath, oh how we took it for granted
Natural, simple, without a single thought
But that was then, and this is now
Clean air is nothing more than memory
Just as it is with everything
Those who still remain tell the tale
The struggle is real
Each breath pulled through dirty cloth
Mask filters exhausted long ago
We try to stay low, in caves, underground
Beats dying in the highlands
Voices are mostly silent
Coughing rough from the smoky dust
Conserving every ounce of energy
Everyone’s gone cynical
As expected, it seems
When breath no longer gives life
Worse, takes it away
If that’s not betrayal, then what is
Ninety percent gone, maybe more
They had nowhere to go
Nowhere to hide when the first winds blew
Dust storms from warming
That’s what the newsmen said
Nothing to worry about they said
Stay inside and wait them out
Temporary inconvenience they said
But none of it was true
It wasn’t just the dust
No, there was so much more
The chemicals, the compounded ones
Secret formula in a viral host
Never meant for the living
Tiny particles infiltrating things
Slipping in, around, and into things
The silent killer, like a modern-day reaper
At least it killed quickly
Everywhere all at once it came
No city spared, no mansion spared
Young and old, every race, every color
Women, men, children, even fish and fowl
And it came as a great surprise to the masses
Except those very few, the few that knew
They knew, and they were ready
After all, this wasn’t accidental
There are just too many people on the planet
Not enough resources to go around
They called it necessary
A culling of the population
Some must be sacrificed for the greater good
Sycophants with a twisted agenda
Think-tank crusaders and their PhD’s
They knew better than the billions
Superiority complexes and permanency
Readiness wasn’t their strongest suit
Nor it seems was chemistry
Add in meteorology and probability
Mutations took control
Madness reigned, and the bodies fell
Breath, they soon found
Played no favorites
Nor did the wind or the rain
And as the world succumbed, too did they
The science of extinction
Another failed endeavor
Additional Reading
R.J. (Ralph) Schwartz is an American poet, author, website owner, and online publisher. His writing spans several poetry collections—ranging from spiritual and romantic to fear-driven explorations—and even extends into science fiction. Notable works include:
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Hope – Inspirational and Spiritual Poetry
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Things That Go Bump in the Night – Poetry of Fear and Fright
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The Lover’s Thread – Poetry for Couples
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Poetry of the Human Condition – The Ups and Downs of Modern Living
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The Secrets of the Moon (a sci-fi novel co-authored with his son Sebastian J. Schwartz)
Schwartz’s work is described as purposefully wordy, richly descriptive, and thematically grounded in nature, romance, antiquity, and forgotten histories. He writes regularly on platforms he manages, including The Creative Exiles, a collaborative venue for writers, and The Gypsy Thread, which delves into offbeat histories, pagan lore, and poetry.
- The Struggle of Understanding - April 13, 2026
- How To Deal With Frost on Your Pumpkin Patch - March 25, 2026
- The Awakening of Earth – A Poem of Springtime - March 18, 2026
