Apathy Perfume

By Emily "Daisy" Arlene

I was driving through the woods one evening, a road trip in my car, when

A smell came through the windows from the waters of backyards

At first I just ignored it and I tried to hold my nose

But the smell it just got worse and started leaking through my pores

Me, I kept on driving, said, best we not stay the night

Know that I don't trust these waters 'till those ponds are out of sight

So we drove on through the mountains, past the lakes and watersides

Praying for a place where this damn awful smell would please subside

I manned the wheel so bravely while my good friend rode shotgun

He started hallucinating and we didn't know what from

I drove to where I thought that we could finally get away

But the smell just followed onward, no matter how hard I prayed

I started thinking I'm a goner I can't stand it anymore

When ahead I saw a clearing and a big, wide river shore

Underneath the hazy moonlight my eyes finally fell upon

A power plant on the river, and the truth was finally known

And it smelled a bit like sad fish swimming in the nightmares of their bleeding hearts

Wondering if their memories of clean water were real or just a part

Of their imaginations keeping them alive

Beneath the dismal waters of their human smothered cries

Thirteen years later, a pandemic swept the globe

Humans rested and creatures tested clear waters newly known

Prayers devastatingly answered at the cost of people hiding and dying alone

What would it take for them to hear earth's voice and atone?

Finite waters are still stolen, creating apathy perfume by the greedy

Ask AI, don't think, erase your own inner believing

It's easy...ask AI, raise the bills, make you more needy

The desperate don't have time to care for water, fish, or rhyme

Will we choke on data center stink or dehydration

Before we care about all kind?

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