It was bleak.
Stark whites
on deep blacks,
then shades
of demented grey.
Everywhere —
piles of rubble.
Burnt-out buildings.
Empty shells.
Joy departed.
Approaching gunfire
made it clear
this was no haven,
even for the likes of me.
It felt unreal —
like an abrupt turn
into unending suffering.
Not far away
I noticed large, ponderous creatures
moving around
in a shuffling gait.
Ogres.
Giants.
Strange ones.
And all of us fools
to bear witness.
She was there too.
She kept her distance —
and who could blame her?
I was not exactly on her side,
but then
we were all trying to live.
Ultimately,
we pledged our allegiance
to the next breath.
More gunfire now.
Ahead,
a three-sided building —
its frontage completely gone.
Another ruined shell.
Skeletal remains
of brick and wood.
People huddled inside,
hoping for redemption,
for salvation,
for another breath —
then the next.
That’s what it all came down to,
really.
Clinging
to breath,
and whatever came after.
I watched as more frightened souls
ran this way,
then that.
A small boy
came running out
of the wrecked building.
He ran past me
as if his life
depended on it.
It did.
I couldn’t stop myself.
With macabre compulsion
I waited
for the inevitable.
It came
so quickly.
A strange beam of light
flashed before my eyes.
It grabbed the boy,
swept him up —
and they were both
gone.