Waste Poem by Forrest Hainline

I looked to earth and saw a formless waste
I looked to heaven and saw no light
I looked to mountains and saw them crumbling

I looked at cities and saw no one
I looked for the birds but they had fled
I looked to the fields and saw a wilderness

I listened
And heard the screams
Of women in labor
Of women having lost the children born of labor
Of children shot down

No one is left there
No one is left here
No one is left
No one

I hear the screams
I hear the screams
I despair
I faint
Murders surround me


(2007)