Moonless, starless nights
Summer all year long
Ferns and foliage of strawberry blonde
And crisp brown
Black rivers, lakes- rainbow marbled or else dried valleys
Oceans rising
Landmasses s h r i n k i n g
Dirty children drinking dirty water eating dirty scraps
Wads of money changing blood-soaked, uncalloused hands
Old, ignored protest signs, yellow, half buried
Still faintly crying: “human lives > oil”
Sunlight too weak to push its fingers through the haze
Which coats the lungs and throats of any
Not fortunate enough to live
In shiny-clean bunkers
Tucked neatly away
War, Famine, Pestilence, Death all in attendance
Invited by Greed and Gluttony
To earth’s funeral
Kay Beckner