THE LAST SUNRISE

If Africa is the origin of the human race
could God have created a more miserable place?
The Sahara creeping south year after year
Man waits for rains that never appear

Dust storms a way of life as the hot winds blow
Snakes, scorpions and spiders the last to go
Clans fighting clans amid the religious strife
all competing for God’s blessing into the afterlife

Camels tethered and hobbled lay down to rest
the sun obscured by haze sinks slowly in the west
deserts sands alive with creatures of the night
the sprawling camp set in the dimming light

Wary of the storm approaching from the east
fires rapidly lit in preparation for the evening feast
evening prayers and Praise be to Allah for their sins
a gentle breeze, a swirl of dust. The journey begins.

On a sandy beach three hundred miles west
an endangered hawk guards its nest
Lovers silently stroll the moonlit shores
holding hands with no thought of distant wars

A million stars shine down on the quiet bay
as sharks slowly circle their elusive prey
Seagulls huddle together for the night
waiting patiently for dawn’s first light

the sun slowly rises over the remote island sands
no thunderous applause and no marching bands
Fishermen begin their daily routine
their voices intruding on this quiet scene

A slight breeze and a gentle moist caress
The Devil’s birth unnoticed by the press
A Fisherman’s boat rocked by mildly choppy seas
and swirling winds rustle the island trees

Conceived in the desert sands on the African Coast
No Mother or Father to give cigars and boast
No attending Doctor, Nurse or afterbirth
Undetected by Satellites circling the earth

An unwanted intruder to the peaceful volcanic isles
the devil is tiny extending out only a few miles
Nurtured by the warm seas he slowly begins to crawl
now he is reported as only a minor squall

The seas normally bluish-green now turn black
and slowly he moves out on a Northwestern track
only a small tropical disturbance of no concern
then the warm ocean waters begin to churn

The barometric pressure on the Isle of Sal hit a new low
as the hot, eastern winds begin to blow
Tourists on Santa Maria beach continue to bask in the sun
Just a slight breeze and blowing sand to interrupt their fun
Dolphins play in the white capped seas
while seagulls circle lazily in the breeze

Fishermen could feel trouble in their bones
and hear the flimsy rigging’s groans
Satellites now detect a slight circular motion
and the Devil starts his trip across the Atlantic Ocean

Cape Verde Islands only export is mammoth winds
Man is about to pay for his environmental sins
the small disturbance increased in scale
as the devil silently began to exhale

Disturbance to depression it rushed to form
then depression to a full scale tropical storm
It was the first storm of the Season
And it was claimed for no other reason
The Devil was named tropical depression Adolf
Everyone thought it would go north and miss the Gulf

But Adolf like his predecessor was evil to the core
and almost due northwest it continued to bore
Maritime and air traffic warnings went out
But it was too early to send out a plane to scout

The Devil slowed over the Mid-Atlantic Ridge
Resting ever so briefly before crossing the bridge
once on the ridges eastern slopes he grew
Following the path of his famous brother Andrew

Over the deep waters of the Abyssal Plain
Massive strength he continued to gain
and two hundred mile winds he started to produce
the alarm went out a massive storm is on the loose

Hurricane warnings all along the Florida coast
His angry potential had now been diagnosed
He was headed straight for Cocoa Beach
And everyone was scrambling to get out of his reach
His winds extended out over three hundred miles
From Jacksonville to the Bahama Isles

Then from the depths a motion of an inch or two
and the seismographs in Colorado noted something new
the two Atlantic plates at peace since time began
now threatened the very existence of man
A tsunami added Adolf’s fierce surge
an unprecedented disaster began to emerge

Five cruise ships south of the Sargasso Sea
hit by giant waves then there were only three
eight thousand unwary traveler’s lives cut short
never to see land again, never reach port

Emergency plans were great Washington would boast
but no tsunami warnings for the east coast
Years and years of failed climate change debate
would now decide the World’s fate

A hurricane hunter disappeared from radar sight
no one to respond to their desperate plight
Air Traffic on the east coast came to a halt
as Adolf gained strength for the final assault

 He came ashore just north of Patrick Air Force Base
after a few brief moments there was not a trace
a sea wall of sixty feet or more
had devastated this eastern shore

Most hurricanes slow and dissipate over land
But Adolf was not a hurricane of the common brand
He basked in the hot, humid Florida weather
And continued to spew destruction with anger

Orlando disintegrated and the mouse had no home
As the Devil continued on his westerly roam
He wiped out Tampa Bay still a Category Five
and then he shifted into full overdrive
No discrimination between rich and poor
the Sunshine State was no more

The warm shallow waters of the eastern Gulf
Now had a dangerous intruder named Adolf
The Devil saw the oil platforms and grinned
Just the structures alone standing naked in the wind

Two hundred platforms toppled and sunk
Massive steel girders turned to junk
The broken valves began to vomit oil
And the gulf waters turned black and began to boil

No one could hear a frantic plea
as Mar-a-Lago was swept out to sea
No tweets and no military bands
as the remains landed on Mexican sands

Suddenly a brilliant flash from above
revealed the power of the Devil’s evil love
A mammoth kettle of burning oil
Headed to shore on Texas soil

 Gigantic walls of burning water hit the coast
and every living thing began to roast
Huge black clouds obscured the Sun
But the Devil’s work was not yet done

 No slight pause at Biloxi resorts for a nightcap
Houston and New Orleans wiped off the map
The devil spawned massive tornadoes by the score
Burning coastal hotels were now 50 miles from shore

 True believers dropped to their knees
amazed that God disregarded their pleas
their panic prayers lost in the winds
no redemption and no forgiveness for their sins

The entire Gulf coast began to burn
then the massive storm began a slight southern turn
Death and destruction in the storm’s wide path
and the earth trembled with the Devil’s mighty wrath
the lands destroyed by the ignorance of man
the earth quickly returning to before time began

Across the entire Western USA
Black oily clouds obscured the light of day
Fires were burning when the oil began to rain
and deadly fires ensured nothing would remain

The devil briefly slowed only to admire
the Las Vegas hotels now engulfed in fire
gamblers fled their luxury suites
only to be cremated in the burning streets

Idaho rednecks had no government to blame
as each and every home was consumed by flame
their precious guns silent with no one to shoot
nothing to protect and nothing to loot

Western forests scorched to the ground
death came quickly with little sound
God silently left his mysterious mark
as California’s cities went dark

No more parades or marching bands
Death came quickly to the shifting Arizona sands
Mothers had no time to kiss their children goodbye
No time to kneel and pray or ask God why
No last gathering of the Angels’ choir
and no time to recall the Bible’s prophesy of fire

There was no sun only darkness of night
smoke obscured every street as buildings were set alight
Store after store looted just for a scrap to eat
Rich and poor now as one with no place to retreat

Then God in his ultimate power struck the final blow
The Jet Stream grabbed the oily clouds from below
And spread the fire and destruction rapidly east
God and the Devil joined in a massive feast

The great Lakes turned completly black
as massive storms continued on an eastern track
Reservoirs and rives were coated with oil
no one had clean water not even to boil

Headed across the Pacific’s great expanse
The Hawaiian Islands had no chance
As the mighty storm slowed to a destructive creep
The Philippine Islands were buried 100 meters deep

 God’s mighty winds turned out the East Coast lights
and death and destruction reached new heights
No clean air to breathe and no food to eat
A slow death came to each and every street

The Devil, now a massive Typhoon
Nothing in its path was immune
He continued west to the China Seas
and brought the Asia continent to its knees

Massive black clouds obliterated the sun
God’s and the Devil’s work was not done
Darkness descended on the European lands
civilized countries destroyed by roving bands

The Middle East oil fields were ablaze
Arab lands covered with a black oily haze
Then as the oily clouds drift slowly south
No food or water even for one hungry mouth

 The southern continents the last to die
It was a slow death with no one to say goodbye
Famine and starvation become widespread
All lost for want of water or a piece of bread
Man descended back to the cave
the cradle of civilization became a grave

Cities burned when water only fed the flames
destruction not equaled by any video games
High above the earth five astronauts looked with awe
no words could describe with what they saw

Huge black clouds covered the lands below
then these lonely souls were delivered the final blow
they knew that the devil had won
when their links to earth went silent one by one

Somewhere over the Asian airspace
God and the Devil met face to face.
They joined in a mammoth evil fist
Then Man and every living thing ceased to exist

No fog obscuring the twilight
No shining stars twinkling in the night
No more mountains glistening with snow
No deer grazing in the meadows below

No lovers strolling hand in hand
No children building castles in the sand
No more land of the free and home of the brave
No one to even put flowers on my grave
Just angels looking on with disgust
and a planet obscured with smoke and dust 

Did God destroy earth in one single flash
with seven billion people turned to ash?
Is Heaven a fantasy man continues to sow?
Does God really exist? – We will never know.

Man now doomed like the ancient dinosaur
disappeared from Earth for now and forever more
All traces of mankind now soaked in oil
and buried deep beneath the soil

Life on Earth had all been in vain
only a few scorched bones remain

Perhaps in a million years if it pleases God
a very tiny organism dormant beneath the sod
 will awake and suddenly start to grow.
Will life return evil as before? We will never know.

 Copyright © 2014 by Bobby Q. Budrock