Shore of the Tortured City

This poem was written as a connected response to my colorful painting of the same name, featured as the cover of this blog and included below.

The piece captures the current gritty state of consumerism, society and humanity's addiction to greed. It depicts the abstract silhouette of a burning metropolis, as seen from across the plane of the polluted water it edges, while civilization on land is engulfed in catastrophic immolation.

The painting features regular and glow-in-the-dark acrylic on 24 x 36 canvas with a homemade gesso base layer. 

Shore of the Tortured City

Today I burn
The worries of the human world
As kindling for kindness
As fuel for renewal
The anger seethes
And fouls the air
From shore to shore
Pushing despair

And excess

Too numb to notice
Too complicit to change
Too invested to deviate
Too wasted to rage
Dragged to the edge
By liars and thieves
Led to revenge
By savage needs

And avarice

Who are we
When the numbers are done
When time is up
And nothing is won
The pollution remains
To choke our lives
The bloodshed rains
To secure our survival

And dominance

United but separate
Controlling and violent
Fading yet present
Pious and silent
We the people
More different than same
We were never equal
Sold a winless game

And wicked genesis

Watch as fires consume
Our hopes and dreams
Deconstruct through flame
Ashen each standing beam
On the shores of tragedy
We welcome the fall
Of our constant torture
Once and for all

We welcome bliss