She carries just a pound of russet gold

And half a bottled ounce of liquid life.

She takes the final breath; one sweet and cold

And steps on ravaged earth, consumed by strife.

Through acid rain and clouds of poison gas,

She holds her breath for hours, days and weeks.

She walks through hell and sees through Pluto’s pass

A light of hope – a snowdrop petal’s cheeks.

The summer snowflakes creep around the light,

Reflections of a life she’d never known.

And yet, in hope, she weeps with crimson tears;

Her body falls, for she is all alone.

With no one left, there comes a past rehashed;

The snowdrop dies; the snowflakes burn in ash.