Death on Earth.

Booster jabs,

Wear face masks please.

Please keep your distance, and don't dare sneeze.

The world is sick,

But hasn't it always been,

Since man arrived upon the scene.

*

We spew out carbon,

Churn out 'things'

For people to buy, then throw away next spring.

I'm afraid for our future,

Whatever that means,

Faced with isolation, and more vaccines.

*

More creatures extinct,

Every day,

They're shot, eaten, trapped, photos displayed

Of filthy rich hunters

Wanting a thrill,

To shoot that lion, loving the kill.

*

Skeletal children,

In Yemen, in Kabul,

Malnourished and frightened, their mothers unable,

To save them from greed,

For power and money,

Their feet pound the earth. A bomb! Just keep running!

*

But, what can I do?

I have no say,

I can't stop the wars, can't get them away

From hunters and soldiers,

From despots and poachers,

Like lambs to the slaughter, their leaders are butchers.

*

Why can't the news,

Tell us one day

That world peace is real, and children can play

In meadows of poppies,

Bird song and freedom

I'll close my eyes, and there I will see them.

*

I'll sleep so easily,

Knowing earth is alive

With mercy and fairness, the lamb will now thrive

And not fear the block,

But live as it should,

Innocent being, if only you could.

*

But famine and war,

Viruses and control,

Appeal to far more than our earth and her soul.

But what they forget

Is we're here for so brief

A time in this world, something they cannot cheat.

*

So, destroy and kill,

Make money your idol,

You poachers, you despots, men with poison in vials.

But when time is done,

When the reaper does come,

Will you be at peace with all that you've done?