Storm Warning

The gathering storm rattled snakelike over distant hills, Heads of dust and debris thrown as charcoal relief To the vast expanse of the sky; In the drought of reason, heat radiated a stillness, Diseased and brooding, motionless as fissured statues Or corpses in their time of desiccation. The old grudges quickly stirred, their animation jostling with fever, Until they burst tall and armoured, bloody hands Raised up to the heavens; Ceaselessly goading, provoking war dogs, effected Reprisals in a rain of missiles, for attrition ruled The stalemate kingdoms with seething deities. The storm is coming, a travel of increasing ferociousness, Laying waste to desert blooms and flesh, And sat upon the pale horse the name is always death. Towers of toasted glass and white steel, Market places, schools and homes…and people… All fair game carrion before such implicit dominion…