Poem by James Matthew

AUGUST NIGHT

A red eye peeps at me through white curtains
And I return its gaze, an ominous scene
of wicked clouds and dirt-dense air that reeks
of smells of exhaust and sounds of engines.

What promise from heaven does this sky bring
of the universe watching from above
other than death, decay, and warnings of
an increasing invasive cancer stream?

Emphysema, asthma, COPD –
familiar things my children will befriend,
souls sacrificed for an ignoble cause –
someone’s unending monetary trend

Of never-ending economic growth,
along with your financial goals of hope
Reek like this sky does of a profound sin
causing early deaths of today’s children.