Annihilation

Shattered glass and broken memories
Are all that remain
Shards of the past, splintered and cracked
Stain streets long emptied

This is heartbreak

Nothing moves in the dust and debris
Nothing organic breathes the wild wind
Nothing remains to show who had lived here
Nothing walks except the shadows of ghosts

This is desolation

As the wild wind weaves drunkenly amongst the ruins
Not yet sated, it spies something
A sliver of silver, a single impression
A hand imprinted, reaching out

This is the horror

It drops to a breeze and stoops to the plate
Sniffs at outstretched fingers … and bites
Sinking poisoned teeth into this last reminder
Of destruction, of the tyranny of man