Flooded and burned
from dust into ash
drowning in mud,
and we name
these disasters
instead of a child.
Flowers without any fruit
surveillance and drones
we live to be safe
but forget how to thrive.
Fall without summer
spring without winter
we feel better indoors,
climate controlled
in a weather let loose.
So when at the end
of the world (as we know it)
I wonder will there be soil
enough to bury my corpse?
John Everett Millais
Today we write about ending while paying attention to the end of the poem at dVerse where Kim hosts. My choice was to end with a question. There are 7 others endings to chose from.
September 17, 2024
Björn Rudbergs writings 
A dark ending indeed with the weather let loose. That 2nd stanza hits with a punch. Love the ending with a question.
Thank you… the images we see on the news are quite dark. Right now from the flooding in central Europe.
I love that you illustrated your poem with the Millais painting, Björn – I have a soft spot for the Pre-Raphaelites, although I just got back from the van Gogh exhibition in London’s National Gallery – and you know how much I like his art.
The question with which you ended your poem is one I too would wonder about, living near the eroding coastline of North Norfolk. I could not live in a world of ‘fall without summer / spring without winter’. I like the cheeky allusion to the REM song!
I find it so much fun trying to find a fitting image after the poem is already written, and it was a perfect fit I think.
I do the same thing, unless it’s an ekphrastic prompt.
Poignant end question
much🤍love
Brutal and true. We don’t thrive anymore.
And if there be soil, what sort of soul is now left to decompose in it? We make poor ghosts.
A very moving and evocative poem Björn
Oh so true. What have we become?
These lines stood out for me
we live to be safe
but forget how to thrive.
A great poem, Bjorn! Love your ending question!
Love this Bjorn- especially your ending question.
The soil is barely soil any more. Sterile, dead, soaked in toxins. We lost touch with anything natural a long time ago.
Powerful ending question as who knows what will be left after all the disasters. Toil the soil what will grow in the land of dead.
Or anyone left to bury you? Love this line: “we live to be safe
but forget how to thrive.”
Difficult to take in as it resonates so deeply.
You write gloom and doom so well, Bjorn, but such a question conveys painful truth.
a stark and timely question ~
Wise and wonderful ~~ ending with a question for the ages. I think “thrive” is my favorite word … speaks volumes.
“and we name
these disasters
instead of a child”
One of the most cutting tercets I’ve read in a long time, Björn. Thanks for sharing your verse.