BURROUGHS

I took a walk beside the river today. There in with the water lillies and the cat tails were tell tale signs of two hundred years of mans growth. Floating in with the wood chips and the dead fish were the throw away consumeables of a society hell bent on progress. And there upon the matted grass so perfectly out of place were a plastic tampon applicator, a glossy condom package, and half a dozen empty beer cans, a complete nights work. The only things missing were the trash producing folk who left the stinking mess in their absence.

Walking the narrow paved route snaking beside the river the smell of industry filled my nostrils with the acrid odor of sulphur. An oh so un-heavenly scent....sulphur. Back some time the folks'd say that the devil had made his appearance when the smell of the combustable powder filled the air. Well Beelzebub must have just left, him along with the two dandies who fouled the park with an oh so covert yet public affair by the riverside.

Moments later the wind seemed to have cleared the air of the sickly scent and I wondered how much lingered back... invisible. Like ghosts trapped in a long abandoned TB hospital awaiting the next outbreak. I don't know what's worse the garbage on the streets or the invisible waste pumped into the sky and the water and the earth? Seems people don't complain about what they can't see. The powers that be like it that way too.

There was a time however when the sky rained pure and the lakes contained drinkable water and the soil wasn't corrupted with plastic and rubber and 10 million chemical toxins. It makes me so sick I dream of cutting it up. I was born too late or maybe I've stuck around too long. Either way my walk wasn't much to behold. I could almost enjoy the space if I could overlook this place.