Rough Medley: Two For the Endtimes

One day the world decided to end

Everybody knew this day would come
Most of us pondered from time to time
Just what we would do on that last day

But in all the confusion of possibilities
We all agreed with each other that the best solution
Would be to let this day be like any other

Apart from a slight hesitation
To each of our steps for the first couple of hours
The day went on as any other day would – smoothly…

It was an alright day for most


We did as we always had done
Slid into the cozy covers, turned the bedlamp off
Exhaled with the grand contentment of kings and queens
Stared at the glim texture of our celings

No particular thoughts
The usual bedtalk of lovers

“It was the right thing to happen!”

And then it all ended.


---------------------



"Visions on a Prepaid Phone Card"

There she is
Standing in the late morning against the wind
Triumphant and satiated
With her 10dollar rogers pay-as-you-go anytime plan

You know who I’m talking about
The modern woman of euro-asian lineage
Proud evolved forehead with her flame-blonde hair
600dollar tinted glasses and retro-red track-top
Zipped to the chin

You all know where she is
That roadside turnout on industrial land
Just off from a fenced-up area of humming hydro stuff

She was driven there with a couple of friends
They stopped to smoke the morning joints
After staying up inside all-night dancing
And sweating and breathing strawberry-scented fog

She took two hits of ecstasy this time
A little mixture, shamrock green and valentine pink

And now she stands there slightly ajar from the group
Surveying and discerning the far shadowy rooftops
Of some awful subdivision town north of Toronto

You can tell by her look
With the near-blue skies of scrolling figureless clouds
And empty november-yellow fields behind her

That she knows
The ground is firm, the houses and streets remain
The systems in place are functioning
Operating safely and properly
The oil-product routine continues through eternity
And all nature bows down silently
To her terrible dominion

Everything is working
Everything is okay



BOOM! RUMBLE! RUMBLE! BOOM!


Oooops...

Earthquakes... Big Waves... Atom Bomb Breeze...
Pictures in the newspaper, Mansbridge’s solemn tone...

Another clip of dirty unshaven men shouting
And waving machine guns while a bloody stretcher
Is rushed through a dusty crumbling street...

The winters are warmer, war machine motion...

“We are now joined by Bob MacDonald,
Our senior science correspondent here...
So Bob, what can you tell us about these recent events…”

“Well Peter, basically this one galaxy,
Traveling through space over 800kilometers per second,
Has collided with another slower galaxy,
Traveling around 500kilometers per second,
And this has caused the gravitational inclination
Of our own Milky Way galaxy to be offset
By about a billionth of a degree…”


Nobody’s fault, it’s just the way it is...
Not a result of malevolent religious attitudes...

Wrong.
Everything is not okay.