A raindrop
falls on a denuded mountainside
becoming a landslide
crushing the village
below
A boy
soaps his hands daily
succumbing
twenty years later
having no defense
A honeybee
brings contaminated nectar
to the hive
fields and orchards suffer
children cry
A contagion
kills every host
spreading rampantly
til finding no more
subsides into waiting
I wonder what happens
when the elephants die?
Marv Himmel
June 19, 2014 ©