By JANE TOMEK

The face once thrived with the expressions
Of discovery and knowledge and laughter and youth:"
Of life.

But somehow, by osmosis, the Satan of the Mind
Saturated the pores,
Doomed the structure of the face,

And spread the contagious cancer of ignorance
Throughout the face's universal mind and spirit.
The face prematurely scarred and wrinkled;
Weared with exhaustion.

Sooty claws of venom strangled the breath of its future
Leaving its eyes blinded to nature,
Its mouth muted to truth,
And its deafening ears ringing with one word:
Survival.

But all hope of survival had vanished from the face
Due to the idleness of the universal spirit.
And the face of the earth closed its eyes
To Life,
Eternally.