Just A Matter Of time
by Odin Roark

Just a matter of time,
Say the residents of daring,
In the city people now only visit
Before the Big Apple is cored.

Just a matter of time
Before those surviving in one-room apartments,
Popping the fizzy in penthouse luxury
Or making do beneath newspaper blankets,
Eventually flee their respective zones,
Into captivity’s stealthily adorned common denominator:
Undulating heat from Nature’s changing climate
Made undeniable by the self-righteous fires of arrogance.

Just a matter of time
Before the staring at blank TV screens,
Kneeling before wall-hung symbols of faith,
Or the peering into empty tin cups,
Will catapult its panicking consciousness
Hurry-scurrying in all directions,
Filling the seductive streets of darkness
Where blindness suggests there is no wrong way.

Just a matter of time
When all will tire
From the desperate closing of weary eyes
Into another impotent slumber,
Where wide-eyed listening to falsehoods
Renders the mind exhausted.

Just a matter of time
Before a tropical downpour flooding the streets of December,
Even as yesterday’s icicles turns the color of molten fire,
And the horrific flames will be carried as CNN Breaking News,
A suicide bomber’s effort will explode past rooftops,
Sending ashen remnants of martyrdom’s messenger
Toward the virgin harem on the other side.

Just a matter of time
Before all that remains
Is the echo of a species’ combatant beliefs
Melting together as one,
The quintessential collective,
The final benediction.

Just a matter of time.