A malevolent wind

blows leaves into a swirl.

Car engines cease to purr.

Eagle drop from the sky and leave winged craters in the sand.

Fish float upside down, lifeless eyes gazing sunward.

Giraffes hang their heads and groan.

Hyenas find no cause to chuckle as they solemnly scavenge.

Inmates bloody their fists on bars.

Jailhouse guards have long gone home.

Kraken clouds swim the smoky sky,

locking ethereal tentacles around suffocating tree tops.

Mountains crumble like crackers under heavy feet.

Now their peaks rest scarcely higher than their bases.

Off key are the songs of what few birds remain.

Perfect pitch is a thing of the past.

Quavering a moment, an island slowly

retreats into the ocean from which it once rose.

Snow bubbles and boils, scalding

those treading through it.

Unbridled rains of melting stone

violently brand the ground.

Wantonly destructive, a

xiphoid shard of glass impales a child.

Yielding not to the pleas of man, the storm prepares to reach its

zenith.