A Vision of the Future
C.J. Carter-Stephenson
Originally published in Möbius, September 2006.
Darkness descends
Over a dreary street,
Where weary crowds walk
With apathetic feet.
Their minds are stifled,
Their souls are numb,
They are on intimate terms
With pain and defeat.
Their eyes remain
Fixed to the ground,
Even when the silence
Is shattered by sound.
A beast is hurtling
Down the asphalt river,
With halogen eyes
And shiny chrome teeth.
Its roar resembles
The rumble of thunder,
Its burning hot breath
Spews out from its rear -
Slow gaseous death
To all who are near.
There are many such creatures
In this dying land,
Which is dying for reasons
Only few understand.
They dart back and forth
So bright and so bold,
Having poisoned the air
For decades untold.
Yet for all the evil
They wreak on the world,
They are only one part
Of a much greater whole.
Witness a landscape,
All metal and glass,
Where the forests and fields
Have been swept away.
In the name of progress,
In the name of profit
The destruction of nature
Humanity’s way.
The right of C. J. Carter-Stephenson to be identified as the writer of this poem has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or otherwise, without the prior permission of the author, or a license permitting restricted copying.
