Rehab

Only the freedom of mind can prevent the state from becoming totalitarian and from issuing totalitarian demands – Friedrich Durrenmatt

The clouds are splayed across the sky
as though the hand of God
has finally come to wipe the world away
the few alive keep moaning Why
because they grimly plod
through vacant cities clogged with foul decay.

And thus the current age of Man
comes grinding to a halt
annihilated by avaricious lust
a breed convinced it had a plan
to counteract each fault
that kept it ever dying in the dust

but no one could have guessed how well
these brutes would learn to kill
until they were assaulted by the stink
that corpses give off when they swell
or indiscreetly spill
to teeter on eradication's brink.

Survivors are the ones that balked
at soiling their veins
with anything the government condoned
and warily, these people talked
reluctant with the reins
afraid to feel again like they were owned.

The cleanup will last many years
a generation scarred
but wiser as it resolutely delves
into a future fraught with fears
where living will be hard,
a hopeful age of thinking for themselves.