Slow down
and let your breath savour
these few remaining pockets
of pristine air
before they become too bitter
and murky to inhale.
Sit here
beneath the gentle shade of mature trees
before they are gone,
felled to make way
for paper houses that whither in the wind.
Stop for a moment
and taste the fresh, calm breezes rolling in from the turquoise seas
before their warming waters,
whip up gales to rid these shores of life.
Rest
and embrace familiar dawns…
Let the sun kiss your skin’s face
before its fury scorches the air
and turns young fields to hungry deserts.
Eat slowly.
Fill your stomachs for a rainy day
before the lands are parched,
and choke with salt water creeping inland.
Swallow gingerly
these remaining droplets of dew
and cleanse your lungs
before the rains stop, then return as floods
to eat hillsides, houses, and lives
and carry them to watery graves.
Stand ready
to safeguard your children’s dreams
before they wake up
and find the grounds beneath their feet turning to quicksand
and life slips away
to become just another footnote.