Aftermath Poem by Manonton Dalan

simmering heat on the horizon
cracks on the ground i am on
no sign of life, not even a grass
been like this thousand years pass

could be mountain, riverbed
where wild animals once hid
but now everything is dead
dried up fossils in rocks bed

i could still hear their cry
before the life, the river run dry
i could still smell the lush vegetation
before they are burn, cut for consumption

now i could feel the dryness of my throat
burning heat, cooking my head and my foot
turbulent wind lifting me off the ground
relentlessly, pounding my face with sand