It began with the breeze
the billowing air, disappearing unnoticed, ran through the trees
no one felt it in the beginning
no one even knew that the end was already winning
The flocks of birds were the next to leave
the people believed it was temporary, that they were soon to be reprieved
yet the creature’s song succumbed to a begging silence
the once cacophonous sky, now a void of absence
It was only when the smell crept in
that people noticed that the breathable air was starting to thin
the mornings left the masses gasping as they woke
and the stench of burning vinyl left the air feeling stagnant and worn
Yet they moved on–the people that is–
they cared until they didn't have to, returning to a life of false bliss
it was not until the clouds started to fall
that they looked up at the black, soot-filled sky at all
They waited till the ocean knocked at their door,
until the forest floor grew bare and the rivers glowed red. they waited
until the sun’s light dimmed, and till the flowers couldn't bloom.
they waited till their lives lay submerged, their skin coated
in ash, before they even thought to question
how the water even rose up to their neck.