2050

On the day the world ends

A bee circles a clover,

A Fisherman mends a glimmering net.

Happy porpoises jump in the sea,

By the rainspout young sparrows are playing

And the snake is gold-skinned as it it should always be.

A drunkard grows sleepy at the edge of a lawn,

On the day the world ends

Vegetable peddlers shout in the street

And a yellow-sailed boat comes nearer the island,

The voice of a violin lasts in the air

And leads into a starry night.

And those who expected lightning and thunder

Are disappointed.

And those who expected signs and archangels' trumps

Do not believe it is happening now.

As long as the sun and the moon are above,

As long as the bumblebee visits a rose

As long as rosy infants are born

No one believes it is happening now.

Only a white-haired old man, who would be a prophet,

Yet is not a prophet, for he's much too busy,

Repeats while he binds his tomatoes:

No other end of the world there will be,

No other end of the world there will be.

by Czeslaw Milosz

Song on the End of the World

Women walk through fields under their umbrellas

Music: Songs for the End of the World (Link)