After the Sky had Fallen

After the sky had fallen,
Turning the air black
So that there was nothing
We could recognise, except...
The ashen skies, blue and purple
Like a bruise,

We waded for what felt like days
Through the broken belongings,
Twisted limbs and barbed-wire fencing,
Our eyes pale and dead,
Not knowing who we were....

We sifted through the rubble
Like vagrants in search of scraps
Of familiarity, in a place we could
No longer call home.

Faded photographs, a broken teddy
Sprawled as he lay dropped
As the bombs fell; to pick it up
Felt sacrilegious, so we left
Him to the circling crows.

Fragments of broken glass
Hailed where a church once stood,
Statues smashed, the holy passive faces
Etched with death, and in
Amongst it all, an organ,
Perfectly preserved,
Miraculous, the pipes still pumping,
Death’s dance �"
To final cadenza.