The Slow Death - Reflections in Shattered Glass

In the dark, where weary faces glow
Heavy shoulders draw down to the warmth of dying embers
There is comfort and there is time, to remember...

A city seething, the masses screaming
A chorus of urgent voices, noises, colour and light
All drowned in an instant
By the almighty roar of some sudden silence
Horrible lack of motion, aghast pause
Something monstrous kicked the city
Like the dusty castle of a termite nest, it burst apart
Deaf, dumb, and blind, we scattered.

The earth shook, we felt it in our bones
It shook with our voices, our terror and motion

And the earth spoke, great steel towers groaned
Like the maggots in a rotting carcass
It burst apart
And we spilled out

A writhing, flailing mass
In a million directions we scattered
Between the smouldering piles, the spitting pipes

And drains, that bled red
We saw people, faces in the dust and smoke
And we passed them by.

We turn our backs to the warmth
Do not stoke the fire for the luxury of reflections
In shattered glass, our bloody past
Turn into the cold and dark, feel the hollow of our stomachs
Let open wounds consume these wounds we will not feel

Expose us
Make us fear
And see how we all fall apart
Stunned like birds in a cage
We leapt and fell
Thrashing our wings - we plummet still.