No Turning Back Poem by Kurt Philip Behm

The earth cracked in Nepal
with fire and shame

And thousands lay dead
on the mountains and plains

Its crust was ripped open
its heart now exposed

And lives were then claimed
from a heaven deposed

The story for mystics
a legend say some

The day nature demanded
for things that we'd done

Her climate infected
her sky ringed in black

Our future as payment
—with no turning back

(Villanova Pennsylvania: April,2015)