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The book The House of the World has been nominated for the Pulitzer Prize and is now available on Amazon.

Civilization

I hear civilization close by.
At the edge of the woods.
Cars running on the roads.
I can hear voices raised.
Everyone shouting.
Debates about the weather.
Rain today.
Climate change to them.
Good harvest.
Too many people elbowing
at the table.
Poverty, wanting,
what no one really needs.
Cut down the wild and build stadiums.
People battling people.
The cost of living
the height of junk
on your pile.
Charge less for having more.

And keep busy!
Never watch the world go by.
Watch the beautiful destroyed.
The silent woods.
The empty skies.
Poems written on bathroom walls.
And get going, going with the crowd.
Offend no one but yourself.
Someday,
world weariness
will cast its wave over the shore.
And for miles
there will be boxes and boxes
of what people had
floating on the water,
while the stars
sweep the floor of night.

Published inIndex of all Poems