They raced across the land

(wild, tumbling, hot, out-of-c_o_n_t_r_o_l)

<B U R N E D, scorched, destroyed, m-a-i-m-e-d>

(forced to flee and leave behind what once was l o v e d)

(and n e v e r to be seen again)

(those scorched sacred places)

A N N I H I L A T E D.

At the coast, they battered the shore

(cities long since sunk slowly under the c_r_e_e_p_i_n_g waves)

& the storms more v/i/o/l/e/n/t.

(you can almost hear the malevolent scream of the wind)

They h/a/c/k at the land-

-at the c i t i e s that warmed them-

-the waters rising unbidden-

-that is not banished at their frightened call-

R E L E N T L E S S.

They slunk away

(slowly m_e_l_t_i_n_g)

<though barely noticed, those figures could move mountains>

Their weight left u n s u  p  p   o    r   t   e    d

(and come crashing down at sea)

(y e s), it came back to haunt them

(still unnoticed, denounced, ignored)

V A N I S H E D.

They suffocated them

(great clouds of their own poisonous air)

B u f f e t i n g the cities

T r a p p i n g the people

L o c k e d in their own filthy cage

(for all their “mental prowess,” by golly, they can’t find the k/e/y)

S M O T H E R E D.

Nope, it just isn’t t r u e

Not our fault

Nothing we can do.

It’s not really that b a d

(don’t worry about it)

<Oh, here, come look at this!>

(and so it goes on)

I G N O R E D

The fires do not care

The seas do not listen

The icebergs keep melting

The smog continues to trap them

The creatures they poisoned and hunted dying 

The trees they plant g r o w i n g - but not fast enough

They’re not fast enough

R U N N I N G O U T O F T I M E-

Humans,

THIS IS YOUR LAST WARNING