Natural Selection
The quaint dwelling seemed to hunker down on itself as a bleak wind tore through the night, rousing restless trees in the dead of night. The slow creak of the worn stairs ushered in an eerie gloom as the sky cracked with lightning. The devious flora rustled in response, not enough to muffle the foreboding cries in the distance, which began as a shrouded being started the ritual to herald a new dawn, unknown and weary to the light.
As the skies began their descent to grounds so feral and untamed, the lamentations of the nocturnal could be seen. Salty tears grazed beaten pine, tarnished stone, accompanied by the groans of a pelted roof. Light mounted the wooden stairs, uneven and languished from little upkeep. A flicker approached its resting place, disappearing into the stygian abyss that cradled the slow dying until no silence could be found, as nature consumed its willing victim.
So easily surrendered by the curiosity of human intrigue, now rendered meaningless as the door swung open. Life taken in one final moment of earthly existence, as an emerald pine shattered that creature beyond this mortal plane. Rain bore down and spread the warm spillage far beyond any final atonement, and just beyond those resting relations.
Hours passed before the sacrificial carnage demanded by arboreal gods took their rest, peaceful along the battered coastline. Where slaughter had ensued mere steps away, and where now silent waves teased at the dilapidated shore. The gathering clouds bore witness to this horrendous site. Soon after day broke, the terror rose again, a serenade which wrought the silence into waking. Daunting trees stood sentinel over crimson terror, bubbled on the broken path to the sea of childhood innocence lost to the unbearable keening and callous butchering of natural selection.
Anthony is a mixed-race poet & writer whose work tends to focus on social inequality throughout late-modern society. Anthony travels frequently and has spent most of his life in Kuwait jostling between the UK & America. Anthony's work has been published 65 times. Anthony has 1 published chapbook titled 'The Great Northern Journey'.
Twitter/Instagram: @anthony64120