I dream of waterfalls, of rivers and of rain
I dream of childhood and my past
I dream of rinsing clouds to ease my pain
I dream in green and sleep to last
Waked I meet the sun, the heat,
the burning wind, the hounds of drought
with razor jaws, the scent of wasted meat
the blowflies, but of vapor — naught.
From greed came gravel, sand and ash
From gluttony starvation and from pride came death
You never asked the trees instead you searched for cash
Now, your world is dying breath by breath.
I dreamed of waterfalls …
© Jan Wayne Fields
This is another poem in my quest for 30 poems in April, for Friday Fictioneers also linking to toads with Rommy for the seven vices.
It’s intense and right now and might take me a bit of time to get back to you…
Björn Rudbergs writings 
This do we destroy our world. From dreams to reality…the sadness of death.
I think it’s the worst vices those who destroys the nature we have
It is all our vices that destroy. Sin is sin or so I always heard. When it comes to destroying our earth, they are all the worst.
Powerful write, Björn…I like the way you have echoed the first thoughts in the last line
Thank you… The intention was to shift it’s meaning in the end.
Well, I thought you had, subtly
We do this .. either intentionally or unintentionally .. end up destroying our world. Potent write!
Or hopefully we cease before it’s too late
And with that the last life on Earth ends…
I think we can still put an end to it…
Well said!
Thank you 🙂
I agree with Kathy, well, and, beautifully said. The aftermath of greed is always so sad.
Greed is the worst
Wow! This is amazing, Bjorn. Nuf said.
Thank you…
That was such a powerful poem – I had to read it twice to savour the words. Brilliantly done!
Susan A Eames at
Travel, Fiction and Photos
Thank you… it was great to write.
That’s a great submission for the seven deadly sins! People don’t think of greed in what it does to the environment
I think greed is the original sin.
For sure
great poem – but so sad
Hopefully it’s still time to stop
A most beautiful poem! And most poignant. My Grandma used to express the opinion that greed was the worst sin, in its consequences. That was 50-odd years ago, and I have not yet seen any reason to disagree with her.
Your grandma was wise… and we do see what happens from greed… and the greedy love to blame envy to be worse.
Heavy and sad. Do you know where the photo was taken?
Actually I do… it’s Mt Lemmon, I was never there when in Arizona… but I do remember the way it looks. Rochelle’s story is about the name of the Mountain.
Thanks…it had that feeling of Arizona, SoCal or Nevada to me.
The shift in tense from dream to dreamed, it’s a subtle but strong statement that even hope can be devoured by the rapaciousness of humanity.
I hope it will not happen… and the shift of tense was my clear intent.
Tortuous… beautiful and so very sad. You did a marvellous job, Björn. We have treated Mother Earth with such disrespect…
I think we just have to treat each other a bit better and mother earth will cope better.
It’s amazing how powerful it is what you’ve written. It made me think for a while what are we really doing to save it?
I think we can do things… we just have to question greed a lot more.
Such a powerful message, imparted so beautifully. Great work Bjorn.
Thank you… the poor tree looked like it was so thirsty
Wonderful and powerful with your start dreaming and your ending dreamt.
Thank you… hope it never happens.
Excellent poem, Bjorn, telling it like it is.
And, as you suggest, it is already too late…
I would love if it wasn’t… we actually know what we all need to do… so it’s really simple
Wonderful. Really enjoyed your take here. I too am on a quest for 26 poems for this month. Lagging behind a bit but would love your input on them.
April is a month of quest… I will get back to you later… if you want to meet other poets check out dversepoets.com
Dear Björn,
So powerfully sad. The contrast of the dream and reality is brilliant. Wonderful poem on an all too true subject.
Shalom,
Rochelle
I hope we can make it change.
What a wonderful eco poem, Bjorn! I especially love the lines:
‘I dream of rinsing clouds to ease my pain
I dream in green and sleep to last’
I will continue to talk to the trees – they may have an answer.
Thank you… I enjoyed writing it… sometimes you have to write what you feel is important.
I have always considered trees to be more than simply plants. Lovely poem. April’s nearly over!
I think you can hear the trees if you listen carefully,
What a powerful, poignant and compelling write.
Thank you..
The problem with saying it’s too late is that it’s a self-fulfilling prophecy. In fact, it’s not too late, but it requires constant day to day action, lobbying, living as ecologically soundly as we can.
It’s a great polemic poem, though, and I think you’re spot on identifying greed as the biggest driver of ecological damage.
You are right… this poem is more thought as polemic as you say… this might happen if we do nothing… but we can still act.
there’s a limit to how much we can damage nature. when comes the time it can’t tolerate the abuse any longer, it’ll renew itself at our expense.
I think the earth is ready to shake off humanity like a dog gets rid of fleas
Wow! Beautiful. I love the repeated line at closing.
Thank you… I find that ending a piece of writing with the lines you started with is an effective way to tie it up.
This shameful death by our hands…sigh.
Indeed… but hopefully we can still stop it.
Nature has been under a slow and steady attack everywhere there has been some progress to preserve but near enough
Yes the mismanagement of our environment is really a sum total of our vices
A poem with a punch
Much🌼love
Beautiful, true and sad, my friend.
Sad and touching. Alas ecological consciousness is just a few decades old.
Powerful. Pure. Brilliant.
Nicely written. And so the world wastes away.
Beautiful poetry. Sad.
Love the social consciousness in this one! What will be when we have murdered all the trees and forgot what our ancestors taught that for every one you use, plant two to replace. greed,indeed.
So stunningly written.
Such a wonderful point of view. The comparison between the lush past and parched present is so stark. Beautifully expressed, if depressing.
So true, without water, the essence of life, we are all doomed.
Excellent poem Bjorn, very powerful with a sincere message
I live in the land of forest fires. This is too close to home.
Beautiful writing, every word, every line. And so, so sad. It reminded me of the death of Sudan, the last male northern white rhinoceros.
WOW! You are a GREAT writer.
Dream of waterfalls
Lovely Bjorn
Bjorn, you are impressive! The poetry is beautiful and well written!
A sad poem to dying nature. Tragic, Bjorn
Your last line is like a death knell. Beautifully told!
Lovely