The other night

The other night I floated through the air
barely breathing
ash covered what was once a family of trees
Paper barks, Gums, Silver birches-
all cohabitating, sharing, living
even the native grasses and ferns in their umbrella haven-
curled their leaves, scared,
hiding from the tarring intoxicating bits of debris
that floated freely and settled in their crevices,
suffocating them,
it was only a matter of time.
I floated on-
no colour visible,
flowers a thing of the past-
I do not remember what they looked like
the Roses, Poppies, Irises,
I do not remember
where they were found-
yet somewhere in the chambers locked deep
away
I remember their names.
I remember-
the hum of the bees in summer time
their pestilence, I missed in the gardens when the sun shone
and the petals encased the sweet nectar they fed on-
sought
the lark, chirp, tweet
an annoyance as I lay on the carpet of grass
oh-how I missed them all
sweet perfumed air-
bottled, how I wish someone had
for this time that was inevitable
this time no one truly believed would come.
The other night I floated through the air
and under cover I heard the muffled
struggling
sad eternal cry
of a world destroyed
a people suffering
a mass of regret
I was one
of those who closed my eyes
wished the problems would become someone else’s
never believed we were being told the truth-
yet never doing anything to find out what the truth was.
The other night I floated through the air
and the tears I cried, bathed the world,
washed away the sins of those here before us,
washed away the selfishness,
the hypocrisy,
the egotism,
the politics
and what was left was brand new again.