12/22/2012

The wind blew hot across the trees,
The weather now belongs to God.
The bloody streets no longer freeze,
Plants rolled ‘cross the hardened sod.
The blood-red moon was staring down
At a world without a wrong or right
Everything’s shades of tan or brown,
Death has won its lifelong fight.

A stand of trees just out of town,
A leaf-paved path, spear-lined pits.
A stealth hiker, steps slowly down.
Money and leaves crumble into bits.
Just past a tree a thin slice of blue,
The sky was dust, the wind was dark.
Eternal salvation just out of view.
Around more curves and past his mark.

Torrential darkness the red moon hides.
Events have silenced Nature’s voice.
Vengeance moves earth on the side,
Misery cloaks a loss of choice.
She’s gotten past the hills of pain,
Walking slogs, the senses drawn.
Checks her blade, looks for rain.
A little sleep, an hour before dawn.

When the tongues of evil and the tongues of man
Become the same,
Faith refrigerates and turns to dust.
Heaven recreates balance and an invisible hand
Resets the game
All that’s ever built turns back to rust.
The ones left reveal glory and trust
Exalt the name.

Travel at the first spark of light
Under cover of fire-stripped trees.
The silent bells break the night.
She prays for hope upon her knees.
The promised land is two more miles
The earth shakes warnings under feet.
The woods crack open like a smile.
She nears the ones she's come to meet.

The clearing opens on a dead grass floor.
No gate, no guard, the wind dies down.
The grass cracks on the path to the door.
The dead dust-smell of old swirls around.
She crouches into silence of never before.
She bows to this final place she’s found.

Slowly she awakes to the lie, so profound:
There's no one left in promised town.