#poem, «Now That The Breeze»

NOW THAT THE BREEZE…

Now that the breeze has dried the sweat behind our ears

and the wind lifts us up again,

this is the moment to sing and cry,

bouncing on lilies under acid rain…

The winds were gusts from ancient hurricanes that were too heavy for recorded history. The rain was the deluge. The sun did not warm us evenly or slowly, it roasted our skin. The glaciers collapsed into the sea and Tsunamis ate the shorelines and the waves washed away the fishes from the shallows. The forests screamed in pain as the fires, unquenchable and implacable, raced through the acres. The sands of the desert rebelled and formed armies in the sky that blasted through anyone or anything before them. The rivers have turned sour, polluted and rotten. The animals have disappeared. Man has disturbed the natural order. Draughts have replaced our thirst and lakes have vomited forth ancient structures hidden for millennia beneath their deep, cold waters. Life is more expensive and hard.

Now that we can’t chew on prime beefsteaks…

Now that we feed on butterflies...

Has the moment arrived to slay the poet

that years ago wrote about our downfall for our pride?

For centuries, no millennia, greed has dominated mankind. Kings, emperors, bishops, popes, merchants, all have used our Earth to their advantage. Selfishness and pride ruled their thoughts. The working man has suffered too many injustices at the hands of ruthless capitalists. The Earth has suffered more. The raping of the forests. The assault upon the mountains, scratching the land with iron and steel to mine what pollutes the air we breathe. The fact that so many, in so many countries, think the oceans are a rubbish bin. All these are unforgettable sins, unforgivable trespasses upon the goodness that has created the Earth we inhabit, which does not belong to the rich and powerful…

Now that we no longer feel the calming breeze of summer,

and now that autumn skies have turned blood red,

we look towards each other and pretend to smile,

as we gaze upon the headstones of the dead…

C.2023, Francisco Bravo Cabrera, 30 MAY 2023, Valencia, España.