Bones Of The Dead City

BONES OF THE DEAD CITY

The bones of the dead city lie rotting in mud
The bones in the quagmire are rotten with bugs
Bugs are feeding on the bones of the dead city
Bacterial decay is ripe in the bones in the quagmire
Enzymatic action is rotting the quagmired bones
Decomposed bone turns slowly to dust
The Laws of Thermodynamics and the Laws of God
demand it
What lived
now dies
The total universal energy is not changed
The bones of the dead city lie in the quagmire
Bugridden mud is the scene of decay
Bacteria, once dormant
now thrive and multiply
The city
is dead,
even its bones which lie in the mud
where another colony
now lives

© GERALD ENGLAND

Composed: Sheffield, 20th June 1972

Publications

1974 Poets & Poetry (UK)
1988 Global Tapestry Journal (UK)