Chemical Weapon

We’re living
in a pesticide era.
Existence is in poison.

Peasants are persuaded.
Their minds are mulched
with chemical thoughts.

Vegetable gardens are gruesome.
Not green, but
a toxic shade of death dominates.

Even deep purple grapes
in the vineyards
don’t tempt birds.

Nostalgic smell
of cashew blooms
steeps in *Endosulfan.

Flies aren’t extinct, yet
they keep distance
from the fruit stands.

An apple a day
won’t keep
the doctor away.

Chemical weapons are widely used.
Corporate target is profit.
Corpses of ethics lie scattered.

*Endosulfan is a deadly insecticide.

First published in issue #17 of The Literary Hatchet