Other years - A lament for the future

One lone child hugged the tree
Somehow, it had nothing to do with me
The winds they blew the birds astray.

All was silent

Only the rocks,
they cracked in the heat.

Somewhere in the dust the old man stirred

Took a breath, then faded away
Someone cried, it sounded like a plea
For water, food, for God knows what.

The mirages rippled and rippled, dissolved away

What remained
Crushing, pitiless, cold.
A lifeless void.

The fading evening sun

Shed blood across its path
And the cloaking night came...