Tectonic plates slip
Cement liquifies
Buildings implode
Thousands perish
Tens of thousands
Refugees, cold, weary, hungry
Dazed, wandering

Death machines rumble
Missiles fly, bombs explode
Buildings implode
Thousands perish
Tens of thousands
Refugees, cold, weary, hungry
Dazed, wandering

Poisoned by supremist ideology
Awash with weapons of war
They seek to destroy the
Majority Black Monumental City
As if slavery, Jim Crow, convict leasing,
And redlining racism have not already
Inflicted wounds enough

An entire political movement
Espoused by millions built on
Blatant lies, purposeful disinformation
Heaps hatred on queers, women, 
Immigrants, persons of color,
Moslems and Jews
Its goal: extermination

The homeless huddle in doorways
The asylum seekers press against fences
The incarcerated gaze from cages
The insane stare in fear
The ill are dehumanized
The dying die alone
Gamblers gamble on games

A marriage betrayed 
Bairns deeply wounded
A child lies long in the dust
The bullet that pieced his skull
Cold, at rest with his bones, 
As a repentant betrayer 
Wanders dazed through life

Creation groans in agony
The earth chokes, coughs, melts
Plastic fills the seas
Catastrophic storms bury cities
Land stolen from its stewards
Lies impotent among
Lakes of death

Creator comes with severe mercy
Destroying what destroys 
Annihilating egos 
Transforming hearts to 
Courageously love
And by so doing,
Repair the damage