Years ago when I was young
I obsessed on where I’d be
when the apocalypse came,
and the big bombs rained…
who’d be standing there with me?
Long before the Curtain fell;
before the Great Bear broke apart,
before the terror hit our shores
and changed our lives forevermore,
and cynicism consumed our hearts.
Now youth encumbers different fears
borne from caution’s blackened wake--
with economies tumbling,
our environment crumbling…
our environment crumbling…
Wond'ring what is there left? What’s to take?
There’s no stepping back into the past
to change the facts; somehow forestall...
So should their fears come as some surprise
when they’ve seen the life sucked from their parents’ eyes?
Maybe zombies exist, after all . . .
© Ginny Brannan November 2012
The term "zombie" is often figuratively applied to describe a person in a hypnotic state, bereft of consciousness and self-awareness, yet ambulant and able to respond to surrounding stimuli
**Thanks to conversations with my son Patrick, and Brian Miller's post on d'Verse Poets Open Link Night #70 for inspiring this.The term "zombie" is often figuratively applied to describe a person in a hypnotic state, bereft of consciousness and self-awareness, yet ambulant and able to respond to surrounding stimuli
I think we all have those fears in one way or another. I just feel so bad for today's generation.
ReplyDeleteWhat a perfect accompanying song. The future at times doesn't bear thinking about.
ReplyDeleteHi-- I'm not so grim! And I dont see your poem that way either. I understand that when we were young, we genuinely worried about WWIII -- as you describe--of course we still worry, but the losses you describe are not comparable to the fears of such a conflagration. So I very much relate to this. But to sone degree think the dire aspect comes from distance from those apocalypses and visions of the past.
ReplyDeleteActually I almost worry more about the planet --economies seem reparable in comparison. Thanks. K.