A future so uncertain

By Lydia Manx

Dingy nicotine colored skies
Remnants of fall aground
Winter's bite in the wind
Seasons passed -- lightning fast
Tears inside all around
Cruel is this year

Exhausted pain-stained faces
Make mockery of ghouls
Emptiness framed -- in a child's face
Questions and fears unanswered
Bombing in distant lands
A future so uncertain

Wandering lost amid chaos
Souls searching for direction
A spiritless land for many
Harmony not a chord struck
Fists and bullets bitter solutions
To life's uneven tenor

Fantasyland found by few
Mysteries delved for puzzles
Easily solved -- next game, please
The rules have shifted
The land changed
A people lost.

29 October 2001