Notes About The Poem
Written on August 6th 2026 for Ink Empress's The Logic of Longing Poetry Contest - The clouds spill a thousand secrets.

The clouds spill a thousand secrets

A winding, desolate road stands before me,
Covered in white ashy soot.
As nuclear winter stagnates,
Grey corpse clouds spill a thousand secrets,
While asphyxiating dust cakes a boarded-up shack in the faint distance.

Loneliness settles into obsolete bones.
I've been searching for what feels like eons now,
For any semblance of humanity.
Scarcity of food looms with each passing second,
For even the few remaining animals have become paper-thin,
Their skeletons protruding through stretched flesh.

A bitter cold silently encompasses the atmosphere.
Summer evaporated that fateful day,
Never to come again.

Continuing my treacherous trek,
I come upon the frost-tipped shack.
Peering through the gaps of a door half blown away by the aftershocks,
Hope dies, as once again, emptiness is all I find.

My eyes well with tears, only to be interrupted by an uncontrollable cough.
Spitting blood into my hand, the symptoms are getting worse.
Residual radiation is taking its toll.
Death's warm embrace will be welcomed.

But until that fateful day, I continue this journey alone,
Perpetually seeking any voice to ring out in a macabre, self-fulfilling apocalypse.
Copyright © | Year Posted 2026

Poem

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Empress Avatar
August 28, 2026 at 6:56 AM
“ I've been searching for what feels like eons now, For any semblance of humanity.” erhm, well! You speak my mind! What can we say, humanity seems dead! I read this poem especially the opening, and I was like whoa! And I kinda guessed this should be yours! Just brilliance!!! You are a natural! And for some reason it felt like reading lyrics of an NF song 😱 Youv nailed it once again! Thank you for writing! Pleasure reading Sending you light always 💀🏆🏆 Congratulations on your first place win!
Jama Avatar
August 30, 2026 at 5:14 PM
Thank you so much for placing me in your contest.
Empress Avatar
August 28, 2026 at 6:53 AM
You are never alone dear Sara, what a deeply moving poem this is ~ and ofcourse the way you paint imagery is always so very profound! I love the flow and the wordplay and the darkness and the deep rawness of your emotions here expressed, its soul hitting! Especially the ending! And there is no way you can welcome death yet, 🥱I cant help but quote the line “ Hope dies, as once again, emptiness is all I find.” wow! The chronic emptiness and those days when hope feels like a myth! So well written!
Jama Avatar
August 30, 2026 at 5:14 PM
Thank you Ink. I will be here as long as the fates allow for Billie and You 😱🤣.
Jones Avatar
August 6, 2026 at 6:33 PM
Woah 😮 This is engaging and haunting in a beautiful way. Inky will love it! Best wishes!
Jama Avatar
August 30, 2026 at 5:11 PM
Thank you so much. I appreciate you reading my poem.
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