The Last Prayer

"Ring them bells...when innocence dies."
                         - Bob Dylan

Prepare to be made a desolation.
Care packages of cookies cease.
Instructions on notecards turn illegible.
News becomes nothing but advertising.
Butterflies turn into caterpillars.
The catacombs empty themselves.
Two lonely masks hang on walls.
All emails to the elders return to sender.
Powerful people dictate their desires.
Nothing and something weave together.
Expressed needs suffer bad timing.
Surprises wrestle in conversations.
A day off for devotion never arrives.
The last angel carries the last prayer.