The End Of It All Poem by Herbert Nehrlich

And long before the dust had settled
he himself had vanished,
no sound had even vaguely
disturbed the morning as it rose.

And what was left was awe,
and an uncertainty of thought
which led to such explosive
and disorderly rebirthing
it baffled even spirits who had come
to witness and to oversee
the final rising of the emperor.

The Cantadora now appeared,
stepped from the cave into the light
and spoke with the authority
of hoarseness and a voice so soft
that all the creatures froze,
the birds just hovered in midair
and Folsom Brook stood still,
just short of where the pair of beavers
were stationed to erect their dam.

'It is the last and final time, my children,
that I will tolerate the beelzebub
this foul abomination of the filth
that fell to ground when God created.

I am in charge of all decisions here,
all judgment shall be mine and mine alone,
I shall destroy this world and leave no trace
for any sparks that live in space to light
de novo from the ashes and the dust
a new beginning, for a humankind.'

She spoke and raised her braids toward
what all had heard, the sound of clarinets,
and from the tallest tree descended, gingerly
the figure so well known to all the evil human souls.

And as his hooves touched down onto the ground
a great explosion rocked the trees and nearby hills,
it spread in a gigantic tidal wave of fire
throughout the world, and it left nothing in its wake.

It was the end though no one knew what really did
occur that morning, as their time had truly puffed
up into air that had the odour of fresh sulphur,
though they had known for centuries about it all.