Parched Earth by Sally Hinton

Looking back
to the days of pure, fresh air,
clean, safe water
and beautiful untouched, nature.

Today we drown
in the selfishness of our ancestors.
Every day more cities engulfed
by the rising waters.
Saline infested and scum laden,
useless on our parched earth.

The earth suffocating,
sweating in a straight jacket
of gases that were meant to protect.
Like a sauna with the door locked and sealed.

Trees murdered by greedy men,
demanding more space, more resources.
Each one axed to the ground
in cold blood by the faceless slaughterers.
No sapling spared in the great massacre.

The vegetation asphyxiated,
rain so acidic no plant could escape.
Insides burnt and scolded
by the very thing they had relied on.

The animals fall one by one,
starving alone in the vast deserts
where rivers, forests, and pastures once stood.
Driven to extinction
and we'll be next.

Looking back,
they ignored the warnings,
continued the destruction.

Why didn't they listen?