By: Lilly White

See the beaconing concrete walls,
The bricks stacked upon each other,
Enclosing our lives reduces us to bills,
buying,
and the politics we inherit.

We see them go up,
we see them go down.

See them go down as the crimson flames take hold,
See them go down as the earth shakes and the water rises,
Damaging the place we give our lives to,
teaching us what we serve.

When we close our eyes, the green conceals, our destruction,
Vines stitch themselves into concrete,
Moss coats the edges of decaying bricks,
Wind strips signs and billboards,
Advertisements of our sins.

What we did is gone,
But you are gone too.

Your body returns to mud,
Your repentance turned to nothing,
Your mind forever lies free of noise,
Covered by the soil,
Covered by the roots,
under the tree that reclaims you.

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Lilly White is a 16-year-old writer from Hampshire, England, who is studying English literature at Sixth-form. Her work has appeared twice in published anthologies by Young Writers. Not only does she write poetry covering an array of genres, she also writes short stories, and is in the process of writing her first novel.