The Progress of Man
They enter the tall stone walls
to shy from nature,
wrapped in stone,
to worship man,
and forsake all else.
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To hide from that which birthed them
that which fed them,
raised them and challenged them.
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They walk there no more, for they have left,
no more the hardships of sand,
nor the cold bite of the north,
or danger from creatures wild.
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Come safety,
come prosperity and reliability,
efficiency and convenience,
for all here will eat well,
and want for none.
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Everything you have before strived for,
is yours for so little,
only costing that which you willingly give,
your freedom.
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The ages pass,
they turn and roll,
like the turning of bread.
Empires rise and fall,
and rise again,
but like dough it stays the same.
what was learned?
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But with convenience comes time,
and with time comes thought,
when nurtured turns to wisdom.
Wisdom evolves man,
it challenges them,
thus it is destroyed.
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Civilization and technology grow,
centuries pass,
with each war the earth shakes,
blood, at first a small trickle, becomes a stream,
becomes a river, becomes an ocean,
the dead feel no glory.
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They try to destroy themselves,
but in that they fail,
in that they succeed,
their hour is late,
the shadows long,
they can see it coming,
they turn their heads.
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The road is quiet now,
but for the song of wind,
the halls lie empty,
the machines stand still,
none now live to make a sound.
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Where is the child, with the burning question?
Where is the maiden, with dreams in her eyes?
Where is the scholar, with wisdom to share?
Where is the hound, with loyalty unending?
They have all passed, into memories,
memories have passed, into time,
consumed as all things,
with no sign they were ever there.
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The world falls again into slumber,
as it once was, for eons again.
Silence, only silence.