Be spirited, be spry and plan
for leaders shunning shame
for sycophants and swindlers
and for freely giving up your liberty.
Be brave and brace yourself
for war between our tribe and “them”,
for strife and struggle
and for the corpses laid to rest in mud.
Be courageous and prepare yourself
for plagues and pestilence,
for blood-filled lungs and bursting bulbs
and coughing in the face of death.
Be confident and gird yourself
for drought and flood
for rats and locusts
and the famine following.
Be sad but celebrate
the many-colored gifts of death
we brought upon ourselves
when making up apocalypse.
Linking to OLN at dVerse
—
March 5, 2020
Björn Rudbergs writings 
Wow, overpowering, brother. I liked the line /celebrate the many-colored gifts of death/. So very dystopian, yet laid out calmly, almost dispassionately., which makes the message even more chilling.
I can hear the thundering hooves in this ‘end is nigh’ poem and I like how we are being encouraged to face the outcomes with courage rather than fear
You got caught up in the Magaly’s contagion, Björn, and covering the topic from the political to war and plagues and pestilence Is scary stuff, especially the ‘corpses laid to rest in mud’ and the ‘blood-filled lungs and bursting bulbs / and coughing in the face of death’. I dread to think what’s next.
I feel like that sometimes Björn – more than I wish too…
We are making a mess of things, aren’t we?
Nevertheless, I shall keep smiling.
Anna :o]
Like the field of dreams, we built it and they will come. Exceptional writing.
Quite the revelation. Nice one.
The stuff of nightmares, graphically presented!
That last line is intriguing. Did we “make up” the apocalypse by creating it, or is it a made up story being passed around for some sinister intent? At any rate, this is effectively bleak!
I don’t think I’ll be celebrating our idiocy. What ever bright colours it comes in.
Powerful poem and the truth in it, seems very somewhat similar to what is going on today. Excellent write my friend. 🙂
A challenging topic and very well written, I like the classic style with each verse starting with a call to face it bravely, delivered like a General.
I like the thought of celebrating the apocalypse.
Oddly cheery piece on such a topic, Bjorn – I especially enjoyed the paradox you’ve created here – it says something quite deep about the essence of being human, I think…
This seems too close to the truth–though I admire your vivid images. I’m not sure about celebrating the apocalyptic times–but I will celebrate the coming spring. 🙂
You hit it Bjorn with the truth. This is my favorite part:
the many-colored gifts of death
we brought upon ourselves
when making up apocalypse.
This is evocative and chilling in its dystopian hues and shades, Bjorn! 💝 Especially like; “Be sad but celebrate the many-colored gifts of death.” Inspired ~
Good alliteration, and vivid depiction of the logic that defends war and dystopia
Oh my, the darkness that can consume our thoughts.
Such a ring of the real world to this. Chilling.
Yes. We made up apocalypse to understand life better.
yes, so true we humans have dug up our owne graves!
“the many-colored gifts of death
we brought upon ourselves”
Such a strong poem, Björn.
A very scary future for sure. Hopefully we can turn it around and learn to love each other instead of always trying to think of ourselves.
This is brilliant! Be prepared….wash your hands!
Uh, powerful stuff. Brilliant as always.
Apocalyptic, Bjorn and eloquently bleak!
JIM
A call to action, mine too. I love the last stanza.
Yikes!
I loved it and the image! We do tend to bring things on ourselves as the imperfect beings that we are.
“Be sad but celebrate
the many-colored gifts of death”
I love these lines, I’ve had a view that death isn’t the thing that we fear it is for a long while, especially if we believe there is something on the other side. I like the idea of a solemn celebration. Thank you
The Lonely Recluse