Poem: Self-Destruct (2010)

Self-Destruct

The air is smoke:

Oppressive, suffocating heat

That would choke the lungs of lesser men

With panic,

But we know just what to do.

We’ll drown the fire in a torrent,

And when the floods rise up,

We’re fight the water with fire –

The flames licking up every last drop

Until our feet are on dry ground

And everything is ash,

Never minding that when the new trees

Snake their way to the sky,

Their seeds will fall on volcanic rock

And be snatched away by the winds.

And as we fall

Like the Romans before us,

We’ll wonder where we went wrong.