The Earth Will Die Tuesday

He thought the earth would die,
Tuesday or Wednesday.
He did not know why or how.
But it would die.

His cat disagreed.
Cats are optimists.
The world would
not be inherited
by optimists.

His chair creaked
under his mind’s work,
picturing:
cars stereos
left in gutters
forests melting
everything
in explosions
and loudness
children clapping
and watching
with eyes.

He wondered
what would happen
to his collections.