When the rain stopped 

The clouds emptied and skies drained of blue 

The inevitability of the world sunk down into their eyelids 

Even the refuge of their daydreams were not safe 

 

The sun did not shine 

The birds did not chirp 

The trees did not move in the wind 

Grass crunched beneath their feet the way snow had long ago 

 

Through their time of wandering 

Eyes closed and legs aching 

Bodies begging for rest 

Cracks in the dirt revealed a red glow 

 

The travellers stopped 

No fear is felt 

Only relief and joy 

As the ground threatens to tear 

 

Shadows cast in crimson are the only colour they have seen in so long 

Destruction was never so beautiful 

The ending was never less tragic 

They held each other close as they fell 

 

Far down into the Earth 

Far past the surface that had caused so much grief 

Regrowth will become of them 

Bounding energy that will propel flowers above their heads 

 

Their fossils were found centuries later 

By academics who had never known sepia toned cruelty 

The healed land stretches towards them, reaching for them to stay 

Death is left as their bones are taken away 

 

The earth rotates predictably 

Orbits that much more routine 

The ground will crumble again 

Time unmeasured by the planet 

 

It will be built up just the same 

For there is no ending in perpetual orbits 

Only regrowth and repairs 

It is what is demanded