This post serves two purposes. It’s my response to a writing prompt offered up by @steemhousepub, and also the first post I’ve done since being notified that I’ve been blogging on the Steem blockchain for over two years now.

So that’s something.

I think it’s fitting that my second Steemiversary post should be a poem. I’m a poet at heart, and so many of my posts here have been poetic musings of various forms. I hope you enjoy this one, which was inspired by the image below. Be sure to check out the writing prompt post if you want to try your hand at some fiction or poetry based on this visual prompt.

---

^{image source}

Desolation & Promise

---

T’was not in the space between waking and dreaming,
Nor the exhale before the great beyond,
But on a jaunt through the country when my vision blurred.
Grave choices stretched on and on.

I saw it then, two futures clear,
One desolate, one glorious and alive.
The void pulled with desperate force,
While green solace breathed and thrived.

The quiet drowned in cacophony;
Humanity’s bellowing, chaotic sounds.
Dread gripped me as I felt the void
Suck them in and drink them down.

The promise of beauty waited,
Like a patient vision of what could be,
If only things were different,
And oppressors fell to the free.

I stopped mid-stride and struggled
Against devastation’s magnetic tide,
Then fell to my knees in horror and hope.
And I prayed. And I cried.

Original poetry by Katrina Ariel

With all that's going on in the world, it's a struggle to stay optimistic, but I do. I'm stubborn that way.

I'm also deeply empathetic, so I suffer when I see fires and destruction. I feel for the loss of life on so many levels. Animals, trees, people. I hate that so much of what is happening now (fires, floods, wars) could be helped if the priorities of leadership were to take care of the planet and to take care of each other. If what is spent on military and industry was instead spent on creating a sustainable future, there would be enough for everyone and we could combat climate change with innovation.

The image used for this prompt is one that invokes strong feelings, which I've tried to put into this poem. The most important message, for me, is that we still have choices. And I will never give up hope.

Thanks for reading!

Whatever happens, keep singing your song!

Peace. @katrina-ariel

---

Author bio: Katrina Ariel is an old-soul rebel, musician, tree-hugging yogini, and mama bear to twins. Author of Yoga for Dragon Riders (non-fiction) and Wild Horse Heart (romance), she's another free-spirit swimming in the ocean of life. Check out her music here: https://choon.co/artists/katrina-ariel/

Katrina’s writing website

---