Plague Songs - number 3 / by Rich Hobbs

What Could Possibly Go Wrong

A deep sea diver jounces through Atlanta’s sunken streets,

Their diving boots as heavy as regret.

A hedgerow grows up through a scree of hedgies’ bones,

Piled, smashed, a full five fathoms’ worth of air

Below a previous window.

It has long since crashed,

Just like the system, 

Into ruins.

A fawn tip-toes on its tony hooves

Through leaf litters of derivatives.

Bats roost in a useless legislative chamber’s

Few remaining rafters.

Orca sing near Moorgate.

But the tiny glimpses of a billion futures,

Fragile as flecks of fishfood floating in a tank of hungry tench

Are gone as soon as you awake,

Dog-tired,

To face another dreadful day

Farming triffids for their oil.