Friday, April 20, 2012

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.

11 comments:

Jessica Bell said...

You've got a nice knack for rhyming there :)

Laurie Kolp said...

Strong, powerful piece... I especially like-

annihilated by avaricious lust
a breed convinced it had a plan
to counteract each fault
that kept it ever dying in the dust

Daydreamertoo said...

Yes, powerful. We humans are ours and this beautiful planets worst enemy. We are only one catastrophe and then one week or so away from being cavemen again. It wouldn't take much.
Great writing.

Nicole said...

Nice...makes one stop and think about how they live their lives.

Cheers!

~Nicole

Blog: The Madlab Post
*Rockin' the A to Z Challenge!*
@MadlabPost on Twitter

Pat Hatt said...

Thought we were so clever
Now cleanup will take forever
As we screwed the pooch
Blinded by hooch

Dave King said...

Powerful and uncompromising. Justifiably so.

rch said...

Hopefully freedom will stay infectious ;-)

Lynn Proctor said...

devastating!

M. A. S. said...

I like the rhyme. And I like that the stanzas all seem to center around really well-created, vivid images.

Carrie Van Horn said...

As they say..."freedom is not free"....a powerful write Bob!!

Anonymous said...

you are right about survivors being the ones to ultimately suffer

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