Atrophy
Michelle Greenblatt
the air stays stagnant over the
the embalmed city fighting for breath
people trampled trashed scrambling in the streets
for scraps of bread on the wrecked ground
the barren homes of the helpless, hopeless
struggling; the in-betweens of every day
in-and-out breathing, fighting for
foodlovebreath the avoidance of
snakes
in the bedroom and rats
in the kitchen the ignorance of the trees
keeping their branches raised
shrugging saying, this is not my fault
and the moon fat with indifference
looks down with a certain
small, aloof smile.
