A Slow Apocalypse

By Shreejita Majumder

I looked at you at the end of the world

In the fading light of the dying sun.

You took in the sky, one last time,

"It feels like we had just begun."

You and I, we're getting a little tired.

The world keeps ending, hinting that it’s almost through

So, we've been bracing for impact; it's only natural that

If I'm going, I want to be gone with you.

The sirens blared, and they never stopped

Bridges burn, people run amok.

We watch with empty eyes

I suppose it's no surprise

A clean end would be too good to be true.

I looked at the hazy sky above

The inky blues with the fractured pinks

"We might still make it," I said,

And you laughed

The slow sad sound of broken things.

So, we've been running. I've been

Holding out hope. You drive over —

Shattered glass

Bird bones

A book on gardening

—    I'm starting to choke.

You say we're getting there

(there's nowhere left to go.)

But I'd follow you anywhere, the heavens know.

Would it be alright, to leave unseen

When the world burns like a movie scene?

Quiet

Unknown

With the last good, forgiving, breeze.

Together, till the end, in silent seas.

I will hold your hand when the tides start to swell

And hope you are holding on

(they say I do it well)

And we'll brave the siege, awash.

The waves crest and crash —

Salt water on skin

Until it seeps within.