An apocalyptic orange glow hangs heavy in the air

reflecting on everything which the light touches.

But the surreal haze that hangs heavy on my heart

obscures the flow of inspiration.

A new shade of grief

coloring a world in which one must choose between

political, economic, climate, medical, or personal crises;

yet only over one of these do we have any individual control.

Constantly in a state of taking the edge off the state of the world,

coping becomes the new survival,

calling us time and again to the altars of grief and intimacy.

Baring our souls to reveal the core of our humanity,

buried beneath centuries of social constructs and material progress

Stripping away the layers

until we become naked poems

reading each other

in the glow of a red sun.

© Del Phoenix 2021