Terry Flood Poet Rhyme

After

Day One

The bomb when it fell sent the planet to hell 
With unrestrained retaliation 
The damage was done and the end had begun
With no hope of human salvation

I woke with a scream from that God awful dream
And took my wife into my arms 
My thoughts were of lust but she crumbled to dust
And she didn’t respond to my charms
_____

Week Two

The landscape is stark for the ash cloud is dark
And the grass doesn’t grow any more
Few creatures can feast since the fire from the east
Made nothing as good as before

Then came acid rain, that again and again
Burned our skin til it was raw
But if there’s an upside, we now can go outside
The rain doesn’t burn anymore
_____

Year Three

The sidewalks I walked, where good neighbours talked
Are tangled with undergrowth, new
Those neighbours are gone but the heat lingers on
In an atmosphere no longer blue

The place that we once called ‘The city’
Is now thick with ferns, shrubs and trees
As I made a sound, a deer stood its ground 
For nowadays no beast ever flees

From what I can see, he eats better than me
My nutrition comes out of a can 
This jungle now covers this land, sea to sea
And nothing is scared of a man
_____

Year Ten

Surviving the blast gave the old man a laugh
Until the the Big C hit his bones
His loss has cut Earth’s population in half
I buried him with the unknowns

So now I’m the one to relate what was done
And document how man survived
An earnest presumption that soon came unspun
Ash shadows cannot be revived
_____

Year Twenty

Who might have guessed that the jabs in my chest
Would go unattended by drugs
My diet, I guess, would never impress
As I eat mostly baked beans and bugs
_____

Year — who’s counting?

So, this has been me; last man standing
My journey and journal now done
I leave this world to its rebranding
A process that’s long since begun

It seems I’ve been less than observant
For with these last breaths I have seen
That I, the last human, shall bid my farewell
To a new world that’s vibrant and green

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John Lawless May 8, 2024 at 3:56 PM Terry, I have entertained many of these thoughts and concluded that mankind i a cancer on the face of the earth destined to destroy the very organisms it depends on for life. I read After "after' after reading After....made for an interesting evening. Terry Flood May 8, 2024 at 4:06 PM I’d just love the chance to explain to an English teacher that “I read After ‘After’ after reading ‘After’” is not bad grammar! Glad you enjoyed, John. Terry

Lin Lane May 7, 2024 at 10:48 AM I have so many questions I want to ask you about some of these lines, but I'll not throw shadows over your fantastic, fatalistic verses. The world will survive man's stupidity... good wrap up, Terry. Terry Flood May 7, 2024 at 2:44 PM No hidden messages, Lin. Just that final observation that once man is out of the way, the world will look after itself. Perhaps waking from a dream (nightmare) to find it was actually not a dream at all was not clearly depicted. Oops! Otherwise… a straightforward post apocalyptic’ ‘ditty’.

Tom Cunningham May 7, 2024 at 10:17 AM Excellent write Terry, I just hope that dream doesn't become a reality. We probably wouldn't know anything if it did. Tom Terry Flood May 7, 2024 at 2:47 PM Thanks, Tom. Strangely, the experts seem to play down the global disaster that a nuke would cause… however, they don’t say much about the result of all the world’s nukes being used in one massive conflict. Glad you enjoyed. Terry