Rapacity (Greed)

The day began with birds singing.

Children played beneath an awning.

Laughter rippled through the spring air.

Then all ceased without warning.

Bolts of light in the distance.

Violent quakes shook the earth.

Rolling waves of dark clouds came crashing,

engulfing everything in its broadened girth.

Terrifying screams go unheard,

muted by the tempestuous blasts.

Where laid a beautiful city

now lay mere remains of their pasts.

The small child, was too frightened to run.

Her quivering lips called for her mother.

There was no response.

Frozen in her place, nowhere to take cover.

Tears stained her delicate rosy cheeks,

as her nose began to bleed.

Clueless of what was happening,

she witnessed the world fall to its knees.

Fires consume the ill-fated city

below the mountain where she’s born.

Screams were heard from burning victims.

Doubtless then, she had been forlorn.

Planes flew furiously overhead

dropping more terror onto the people below.

In the vast distance, defense armies were gathering

They too, find it hard to swallow.

The poisons had spread into their lungs.

Every living thing soon perished.

Subdued without prejudice or favoritism.

Inconceivable for life to flourish.

Ashes fell upon her golden lashes,

tainting the life she just began,

and forever demolishing her memories

with the day rapacity conquered man.

---A. Joleigh