Davenport Tomorrow Poem by Michael Burch

Davenport Tomorrow
by Michael R. Burch

Davenport tomorrow...
all the trees stand stark-naked in the sun.

Now it is always summer
and the bees buzz in cesspools,
adapted to a new life.

There are no flowers,
but the weeds, being hardier,
have survived.

The small town has become
a city of millions;
there is no longer a sea,
only a huge sewer,
but the children don't mind.

They still study
rocks and stars,
but biology is a forgotten science...
after all, what is life?

Davenport tomorrow...
all the children murmur through vein-streaked gills
whispered wonders of long-ago.