It began
a cloudless sky
and two dogs running
down the nearly empty street.
It began
a sudden heat
erupting everywhere
blown forward
into suddenly parched ground
unable to look up
at the great cloud rising
It began
sweeping upward
a new sun
casting the old
in a shroud
of ancestors.
It began
the vomiting
uncontrollable
in waves
ebbing, never
receding
It began
twisted hulks
ragged monuments
a scream
tearing ears
membranes ruptured
It began
with an ending

First Published in Ionosphere, Vol. 1, Issue 2, July 2024