Wretched

Wretched
by Aurelio Rico Lopez III

Miserable, I am
Wandering among tombstones,
Surrounded by countless names
Of people I have
Never met.

Miserable, I am
Missing the Old Days
When men fled in my wake
And women trembled in prayer
Holding fast to their
Dear children.

Miserable, I am
Gazing at the horizon,
Night sky aglow
With towering buildings and neon billboards,

My kind replaced by new monsters
Corporate moguls,
Corrupt politicians,
Child-abusing holymen.
I do not belong here.
I should have died with
My brethren who met
Their demise at the tip
Of a hunter's wooden stake.

Gone are the hunters,
And I am destined to meet an end
Unworthy of my kind,
Watching helplessly as
My body crumbles into ash
To rejoin Mother Earth.