Down to Zero

there are no words enough to say
how a world like this could die away
how reason falls on deaf ears
truth dissolves and disappears

they warned us years ago
people laughed it off, said “what do they know”
and we went our separate ways to find
a future facing the end of the line

now the weather stumbles, forests burn
past the point of no return
corporation money thrives
while the refugees look for a place to survive

history walks the plank
its eyes are flat, its face is blank
the melting ice, the rising sea
a redder sun than used to be

I know people who live in trees
who chain themselves to machineries
who face the judge’s scornful stare
there is no shelter anywhere

Standing Rock, the black snake
in time like these you do whatever it takes
wherever a line is drawn
for the people and the land they live on

I fear for children I see
and I don’t blame them when they look at me
as if to say “how could you
we were depending on you”

I woke up in a sweat last night
so all alone I couldn’t face my fright
but I took a look around to see
millions more just like me

resistance goes from hand to hand
for the air, the water, the people, the land
tomorrow is born from the seeds of today
and we are going that way

the clocks are counting
down to zero