I saw opulent penthouse lofts atop looming dystopian skyscrapers,
And lavish crystal cabinets brimming with luxurious poisons –
I saw monstrous plumes of quantum ash, steel snowflakes and crimson stardust,
Wafting eerily through the lonesome underpass,
Illuminated by the electric pulses of glowing streetlights –
I saw masked robots and weeping lovers, crucified angels and tortured souls,
Shuddering in a haze of chemical euphoria,
Like skeletons with quivering veins and deranged senses –
I saw spherical shards of melting glass lying naked in the sordid gutter,
And disfigured skulls drowning in puddles of rancid petroleum –
I heard wretched guttural moans dragged mercilessly from the gruesome depths of their tortured knotted stomachs,
Like gangrene corpses electrified into a series of helpless spasming convulsions,
Their vacant graceless eyes weary with mortal decay,
The morbid horror of existence illuminated for all who bear witness to the ceaseless terror of time –
I saw boiling lava spewing from strange derelict marble fountains and gothic gargoyles,
As cursed vultures forever circle overhead,
The piercing glare of death glinting in their sinister harrowing stares –
I saw fallen angels brooding in somnolent silence or sorrowfully weeping blood-curdling cries,
Grief-stricken and forlorn at the loss of their sacred childlike souls –
I saw rivers of holy blood and unshed tears cascading through the desolate deserted city streets,
Under flickering lamplight in the cold and lonesome midnight hours –
Poem by Stamos Mardou