Killer Drought Poem by Kwai Chee Low

Waves of heat shimmer above the dry cracked earth
A merciless sun, a tyrannical orb of dazzling fire
An angry dragon breathing fire in the azure sky above
Relentlessly casting rays of death, they never tire

Trees stand starkly against the horizon
Devoid of their shady canopy of green
And the breeze blows through without direction
Eerily free of the sound of fluttering leaves now never seen

Lonely birds sit forlornly on dry wizened boughs
Left behind by their brethren so long ago
Remains of incense once offered to the rain god
For the breath of life that never came

Now skeletons litter the desolate landscape
A reminder that life has come and gone