The Penultimate Frontier

I think disintegrating is better than suffocating in that you still maintain alliterative value but it's not so blatant. 

The deletion issue.  Hmm.  Alternatives don't exactly jump out at you do they?  Here's a thought.  What about:

a distant future flashback
destined for
-- delete --

Now I think senseless is actually the problem in the Penultimate's penultimate stanza -- it's kind of a blah word now that it's been hijacked by journalists (such a senseless waste of human life etc). 

I don't mind a good bludgeon provided it's in the right hands.