Three Poems, by Erin Brophy

COVERED

What is this emotion

It’s covered and cowering

Not wanting me to see

As I get closer

It explodes

Drenching me in its filthy feeling

I’m overwhelmed with identification

I quickly clean up the mess

And hide it away

Once again it’s covered and cowering

COFFEE

Lying in my bed

I can hear its gurgle

Announcing the morning

That I resist

Its potent smell of spicy earth

Seeps into the solitude of my room

It noisily invades my nostrils

Like soldiers on a morning mission

It is a war with sleep

They cuff me

And drag me from my bed

Leaving me lifeless

Standing cold in my kitchen

My hazy vision watches for the end

Of the passing gurgling thunderstorm

In the ten cup glass globe

The dark rain

Has flooded the clear city

Leaving nothing but sludge

I feel I should check for survivors

And I pour myself a glass

I add some half and half and watch

 As it swirls and integrates

With its contrasting concoction

I try to read my future

With the pictures it formulates

I try to test my sanity

With what I create

Black and white turns to brown

And I take in the thick black rain

Dirt and bitter cocoa coat the lining of my mouth

The more I try to save the drowned village

The more my heart begins to race

And my breath begins to increase

The morning fog dissipates from my mind

The sun rolls in

Along with inspiration

And my serotonin cultivation

Begins to sing

Of cupping captivating caffeine

I glance once again

At the empty globe

There were no survivors today

In the poor glass city

Just some sludge

Sitting at the bottom of my cup

EARTH

I finally came to visit this foreign planet

After hearing about Earth

Its destruction

Its violence

Its sorrow

Its suffering

They told me never to come here

“Their minds are closed there,” they said

“They will not listen”

“They only destroy”

“A rock does not understand words, only the brunt of a hammer,” they said

I now hover above their fires

Their demolition

Their illness

Their wars

They cut down the trees that gave them air

They polluted the lakes that gave them water

They contaminated the soil that grew their food

They poisoned the animals that they consumed

They killed the insects that pollinated their crops

They filled the earth with their garbage

They suffocated the disease that offered them balance

They prayed to the God of Money to save them

To give them clean air

To give them clean water

To grow their crops

To heal the animals

To bring back the bees

To take away the garbage

To keep away the disease

God of Money has no power

Now they stand shoulder to shoulder

Gasping for breath

No more air to breath

No more water to drink

No more food to eat

Dehydrated and starving

Surrounded by the stench of their existence

No more room to spread

I hover above them and wonder

Should I let them die

Should I euthanize them from their despair

Should I abandon them

As they have abandoned their Earth

Should I let them suffocate

In their self-assembled misery

Or should I finally release them from their Hell

My finger hovers above the red button

This is what I have come here for

This is what I have to offer

I take a deep breath

And with love and empathy

I press it

They disintegrate

Into final silence

I land my ship

Put on my mask to breathe

And step outside into the dust

Wind and ash whip against my body

Like pent up aggression finally released

I bend down

With a single seed in my hand

And place it into the Earth and soot

I call to the God that has been long forgotten here

Mother Earth

I ask for your return

I know you are tired

I know your children have stripped and abandoned you

But I offer you this precious seed

This seed is not tampered, modified, or mutated by the humans

It comes directly from you

Please fill it with your love, your light, and your energy

I pray for you to help it grow

Thank you Mother Earth

I step back into my ship,

Close my door

Take off my mask

And turn back towards the desolate Earth

The cinders whip against my windows

Leaving me feeling like I am inside an hourglass

Realizing too much time had passed before I visited

And a great extent of time is ahead of me

Before that seed will grow

Someday the humans will travel here again

Looking for signs of life

They will find evidence where there once was water

Where there once was plant life

They will be excited and wonder if there is life here

But what they will not know

Is that their feet will be standing

In the ashes their ancestors

---

Comments RSS Both comments and pings are currently closed.