❝ i am a dead tree
   that kids fill with carvings of 'i hate yous'

   sticky webs of old lies and deception
   clings around my withered branches
   that sit dead and blind my sight

   my roots are watered
   by polluted streams while
   acid rain runs through my veins
   like a fracking well with oily leaks  
   that causes me to choke
   and cough up bad blood

   angry winds pass though me
   and i stand engulfed with stillness
   for i am afraid the slightest of movement
   may cause me my demise

   i remember the days
   when i was but a young tree

   i provided home for the birds
   and shade for the people
   to protect them from the sun's raging heat
   but now i am useless
   and hated
   and left alone

   but lo and behold
   i see my farmer striding towards me
   with an axe in his hands to chop me down

   he delivered blows to my body
   that led me into bits and pieces
   to be thrown in the fire

   i smiled and thought;
   at least i was still of use for warmth
   during the cruelty of cold days

   but as i fell from once my might
   i had glimpsed on a little green
   a sapling growing from the earth
   reaching upon the skies

   in this i had learned
   life and death go hand in hand
   that from ashes unto ashes
   and to dust we must return

   but alas it is not the end
   as for the end signals a new beginning
   and as so does chances of a new life ❞

... and i lay there,
listening to your heartbeat. the soft laughs we share as we exchange kisses;

i never knew it'd become my favourite sound-

your laugh, your heartbeat;

you are my whole world.

as i lay there, peacefully with you,
you've made everything whole again,

my world; until the end.

is humanity going to be beautiful again
it has lost its way, and I want to know when
all people of the world, deserve a little break
it has been too long since all of us, really could partake
mama never told us, there would be days like this
she told us what she knew and would she gave us a kiss
I want humanity to be beautiful again
let's find a way to save ourselves, and I end, with an AMEN

Brian Hill - 2020 # 280

All the world's a spiel
tall tales torn from a heart; peeled.
Everyone desperate to feel
As they all lay under their ends heel
So many roles we'd play
Just to get a little more warmth today
Surging sweaty waves
Scratching at ever ending holidays
Putting hearts into ATM'S
For the roulette wheel of freedom again
Clamber up the display pen
Just to hide our broken sealed goods, friends.