Countdown Poem by William B. Watterson

ten
long years march
vapid across the soiled pages
in the dog-eared books
of two lives

nine
corinthian columns lean
crumbling on the moldy concrete portico
in the front
of a Southern courthouse

eight
brown-edged roses rest
pressed between the yellowing pages
in the heart
of a forgotten family Bible

seven
unanswered letters decay
lost among the endless detritus
in the vast wasteland
of a city dump

six
old soldiers lie
leaking on the brown paper lining
in the bottom
of a plastic trash can

five
crushed butts reek
dead atop the filthy coating
in the bowels
of a grimy glass bowl

four
bare walls stand
staring at a cluttered apartment
in the midst
of a teeming city

three
homeless children remain
abandoned by mother and father alike
in the confines
of a distant orphanage

two
lonely people linger
wondering about an almost-voyage
on the capricious
sea of success

one
sad man slogs
empty down a squalid street
in an incessant trek
from bar to bar