And Just Like That...

by Carmen Ruggero

... as dead leaves succumb to the wind’s
deliberate and forceful thrust and vanish,
without even pretending to mind,
just like that...
one by one, the surf will draw
grains of sand into the ocean’s depth;
like easy prey they’ll follow and with them
take the footprints of those misguided souls
lost and devoid of imagination and purpose.
Those who look, but do not see,
who touch, but cannot feel.
Those who hear, but do not listen;
who inhale emptiness
and exhale hollow words,
and who, pretending to be poets,
sing their satirical verses devoid of rhyme and form.
And just like that... one day they vanish;
easy... like dry leaves thrust about by the wind.