What Have We Done?

Lying dormant underground
a thief of life is waiting
to steal the breath from those unaware.
Unknown to man until this time
when care has not been taken
to save our souls
from what is lying there.

Now who is to say what can be done
to stop the devastation,
spreading like fire among us
one and all?
As we discover
that which we have done to live
is now the very thing heralding
our own ending call.

To live the lives that bring our ease
we care not what we take.
Removing every resource from the ground
Then we stand in shame
when all goes wrong
when the sun goes down.

We have burned a path among the trees
and vines that protect us.
Stolen the very air from our skies.
Now we stand among the ruins
of our own creation
watching the Earth as we know it
say goodbye.

Author's Note

Submitted in the Earth Poetry Contest

Reviews

[Arthur Henn]

Reading this I think of this world of Concrete Jungle we all live in. Where I live, only twenty years ago we had orange and avocado groves all around us. It was still a small town in the wilderness.

Neva - your last stanza says it all, dear

We have burned a path among the trees and vines that protect us
Stolen the very air from our skies
And now we stand among the ruins of our own creation
Watching the Earth as we know it, say goodbye

[brenda]

beautiful i love the last lines !:)

[SoulCrusader (Yas)]

A beautiful write, the highlighting of the environmental angle is so masterfully achieved!!

[EMF]

Such pace and passion. Travels along leaving you breathless and spent. Leaves you with a rush of adrenelin. Heart pounding and brain a racing

[Lily Mae]

The thief of life.. I have to agree the last stanza brings it all together so beautifully..x