Dark clouds roil over dark buildings 

and cover the sky

in a choking blanket. People whisper

but their breaths are halted by thick smoke.

Eyeballs burn in the acid

air. Oxygen depletion brings tears to sore eyes.

Man-made BANG!s and BOOM!s echo in

frigid air. The tongue cringes at the droplets of

bitter sludge condensed in overproduced gas.

Broken glass crackles underfoot. No avians

caw o'erhead. Rain that falls burns through

skin. Unused buildings stoically stand still

in silence, doors like gaping mouths

stay watching the street. A world

decimated by pollution; a world slaughtered

by those who swore to maintain it.

A futuristic scene, that takes more

than one soul to change, to create, to prosper.

Together, we can prolong this seemingly

inevitable scenario.