Rays of sun, unrestrained, lance the skin of the sky
Creating an iris in the orb that is our celestial sphere.
Through the hole, javelins of lethal UV fly,
Their bluest blue burning as true as the burn of clear
Blue at the wick-base of a chemist’s flame
(Or plumes of gas issuing from our earth).
Over cities, fumes and smutch muddle and stain
Impenetrable fog – a smog of untruth
Masquerading as sky, its elegy an ether
Congesting to the density of carpet by dead wind.
Hark! Soon the breath you believed you’d always breathe
Will puddle into something you must swallow as you take it in.
Pay attention. The tocsin peals: Beware.
Rain burns and air will no longer exist as air.
Note: Today, over 80% of all urban areas experience unhealthy air quality. In northern China, air, on occasion, has come to a complete standstill, exacerbating the asphyxiating effects of smog in the cities in that area. Scientists term this stall ‘dead wind.’
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Powerful commentary!