#FFFC – Straight From My Heart

This Veil of Smog

Doomsday! Doomsday!! Doomsday!!!
This is what every blob of cloud seemed to say.
Mankind was on its way.
Advancing slowly, but certainly towards doom’s way!

Not a single tree now survived.
In a land that was once lush green.
As mankind aimed to propel itself towards the sky.
A jungle of concrete, on land grew up to thrive. 

Pollution poisoned the air making it toxic.
No longer did it retain its freshness.
Smoke from the factories and vehicles
Hung heavy everywhere, static.

Spewing at a rate, beyond any speculation.
Tall columns of smoke presided, hardly any respite.
They burned the eyes and clogged the lungs
The days grew dark, the thick smog shut out the sun. 

Uncontrollable now, doom seemed the only prediction.
Humanity’s death knell seemed to have been rung.
Slowly but steadily advancing each day.
Mankind kept pushing itself towards its own extinction.

Poetry Copyright @ Goutam Dutta

https://fivedotoh.com/2021/05/10/fandangos-flash-fiction-challenge-117/

Unending

 Through the centuries
 Human endeavour to
 Expose! Expose!!
 Scale up the peaks.
 Tear down forests.
 Dive into depths.
 Shoot into space
 And seek.
 Seek all that is unknown,
 Unheard,
 Mysterious,
 Let nothing remain a secret
 From the hungry, inquisitive mind.

 So the race continues.
 Everyone seems to be running
 In their own direction
 Busy
 The knowledge gained however
 Seems to be of no avail.
 The smaller mysteries-
 The anguish of a fellow person’s heart
 The cause of someone’s tear
 A silent scream 
 Emanating from a grieved heart
 Its causes not yet deciphered.
 Neither does the world seem to care
 On breaking down individual walls.
 No time to stop and ponder
 About nature-the silent sufferer.
 On individual tracks,
 Cocooned in a world of one’s own creation,
 Humans keep going,
 Know not where!

Fandango’s Flash Fiction Challenge #96

A Tale-of Desolation

Standing in the wilderness,
I am a tale
Of a struggle,
A resistance,
Dogged perseverance
To hold on to existence.
 
This was meant to be a check post
On the border,
manned by a few sentries.
I was their workplace at day
And at night, their nesting shade.
Life then was peaceful, full of joy.
My dear friend, nearby flowed the river
In its cool waters, my reflection
Danced and wavered.
 
Not much activity happened here.
The nights used to come
Dressed to please and charm.
The sentries who stood guard
On the river embankment
Talked in hushed whispers
To drive away their sleep and boredom
And I revelled in many of their secrets.
 
Then the war broke
Men and machines fought
Against each other,
For pride and to possess,
To succeed in beating back death.
Nowhere was any human dignity left.
 
The day the war reached here,
It was a night just like any other.
The enemy came
from the opposite bank of the river,
Against a large platoon of men,
The guards, my inmates, were ill-prepared
And certainly, no match.
They tried to fight back bravely
But fell defending my territory;
Their blood was soon left splattered
On my walls and the river bank.
It was all over in few hours.
 
The enemy moved on and I
Was left standing for many days;
With splattered blood
And stench of rotting flesh
Filling the night air.
 
I still stand today, forgotten, desolate.
The boundaries have been re-drafted
and I am long forgotten.
Even the river has changed course, deserted me.
I stand alone
Carrying the tales of the past
Etched in my crumbling bricks and mortar.