What once was

A crystal lake

Serenely flowing

The reflection of

Yellows

And

Pinks

Adding to its ethereal appearance

Has been reduced to

A crater

Filled to the brim is

A makeshift mountain range

Out of bottles, bags and straws

Would have seemed creative

If it weren’t so deadly

We have reduced the world to a black smudge

Where once stood

A lush

Idyllic

Forest

Where birds couldn’t

Even fly high enough

To surpass the towering oaks

Has been demolished

Their nests

Now nonexistent

Offer no protection

To triplets

Tweeting sadly from

A hole in the ground

Not nearly

As deep as

The one in their hearts

We have reduced the world to a black smudge

Where meadows once flourished

A sunkissed land

Of heaven

Long ago has crumbled

Into the cracked and ashy ground

Like growing up

Watching your once

Lively

And

Vivacious spirit

Turn into a

Feeble

And

Withered corpse

That lives today

No light can get past

The

Thick

Gray

Clouds

Sticking to the sky like glue

We have reduced the world to a black smudge

As greasy sludge

Pours its way into the ocean

A sea turtle takes

One last look

At the water

Unable to see her own flippers

How will she find the air close above

With the sea as black as a midnight

Without the moon?

We have reduced the world to a black smudge

What once looked like

A gemstone

Suspended by

The strings of Hope

Bravery

Remembrance

Gratitude

Truth

And Love

Now blends in

To the shadows

In the dusky gray light

Aimlessly spinning by only one string

Hope

Because we still have it

However, a nation

Cannot reside on only one string

To work together,

To build up that string Is to heal that wound

And add a little color to that smudge