To those who guessed, this Halloween’s poetry theme for me is the monster that lays within far too much of humanity.

Nuclear Winter Hues
by Michael Doyle

Nuclear Winter
Begins to splinter
With daylight undefined
Tricks begin to play on the mind

Another day off the board
Passes and survivors are not bored
Praying, it's never too late
Playing the uneasy game of wait

It's not too late
It's never too late
The end is not the end
As we transmit and send

It's not too late
It's never too late
We fast forward to the ending
Only to find what we're beginning

Hoping to hear from anyone
Fearing humanity has been undone
Who knows if we'll live past today
Or who would want to anyway

There's a hole where the rain gets in
We'll need to patch it up again
Hope spins tight with radiation
Spilling out across the nation

It's not too late
It's never too late
The end is not the end
As we transmit and send

It's not too late
It's never too late
We fast forward to the ending
Only to find what we're beginning

Decay begins creeping in
Our self-afflicted fear is seeping in
They'll be able to do this again
Then again, who is left to defend

The particles in the air aren't so bad
The perpetual darkness is feeling sad
We slip peacefully through another night
Praying to God to see the morning light

It's not too late
It's never too late
The end is not the end
As we transmit and send

It's not too late
It's never too late
We fast forward to the ending
Only to find what we're beginning

For too long, we've lived alone
Knowing we're the wrong ones to atone
Scratched out from our graves
We search for a new messiah who saves

The whisper is it's a hallucination
Just another blast from the radiation
There was never any real answer to be found
We know this now as we hide underground

It's not too late
It's never too late
The end is not the end
As we transmit and send

It's not too late
It's never too late
We fast forward to the ending
Only to find what we're beginning

(c) October 7, 2024   Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved