tw: mentions of death, environmental issues
written on: january 12, 2023
*
it stands and i stand next to it
tall and proud above the smog
the both of us
the river lies at our feet
polluted and gray
hopeless and dying
don't you see what you've done? i scream
how can you stand so tall, with this destruction at your feet?
the smokestack never answers
i hit it
fists and feet and legs and arms meeting impossibly unforgiving concrete
why don't you blame yourself?
don't you see what you've done?
the walk back to campus is silent and tearful
the river is moving but it is not alive
not like it used to be
not like i used to be
from a warch window i glare at the smokestack
although my anger is fleeting
from far away it looks different
it seems to droop
curl in on itself
perhaps it did not answer because it cannot speak
or perhaps it doesn't know what to say
and i see it now
i see that it knows what it has done
perhaps it didn't mean for all of this to happen
it cannot control the damage it has already done
there is no use in tormenting it for the past
because the river is still dying
as are all of us, really
someday the smokestack will fall, just as i will
and perhaps things can grow again
perhaps things can live again
the river is dying, yes
and the smokestack has done its part to kill it
but perhaps the river is also being reborn
and perhaps the smokestack has done its part to transform it
and so i am at the smokestack again
looking up and up and up at the big, bold letters that traverse its front
a façade of strength
it's okay, i whisper
i forgive you
i forgive myself
YOU ARE READING
poetry by jungenwunder
Puisimy old stuff is pretty bad but my newer stuff is much better, please pay attention to when it was written and feel free to start at the end of the book!! i will have trigger warnings at the beginning of chapters when necessary. stay safe, i love you.
