Poetry – Nature’s joke that backfired

Nature’s joke that backfired

Almost a joke among the trees on the grassy plains,

Standing naked in the ruddy dawn,

Striding out in packs to trap and snare

And drive away the fearsome beasts.

Against the odds they prospered.

A spark of wonder and a bag of lust;

Worshipping the unknown sun and moon

That sailed the sea of sparks and awe,

As camp-fire cinders soared into eternity,

They dared to dream.

Defending, defying and exploring,

As teeth chewed, minds churned

And thoughts pierced the mantle of reality

Illuminating the wonder of infinity

With exquisite curiosity.

Never prepared to sit and be content;

Obsessed with lust for power and invention,

Creative urge and complete control

Spawning figments of a fertile imagination

As they ventured forth.

Onto the endless shores of possibility,

Where all was achievable,

They gave full rein to their every desire

Creating majestic edifices and hell,

Flawed by a streak of cruelty.

Stained by a mean and vicious arrogance,

With the hard stare of brutality,

A heartless whiff of psychology.

We seek to dominate and destroy

For our enjoyment.

Yet still imbued with the possibility of greatness

With numbers so numerous

Teetering on the edge of the precipice.

A chasm so deep as to be buried forever

We vacillate.

19.6.2016

Nature’s joke that backfired

I can’t help thinking that we are at a cross-roads. I feel as if we are poised in a moment. Ahead are two routes. We can keep on going or we can reassess and attempt to put things right.

As our numbers teem and our societies are still consumed with medieval superstition we can blithely go forward destroying all around us, or we can stop and take stock; we can take action to halt our burgeoning populations, put an end to the destruction of nature and try to forge a better future.

We have the capacity and intelligence. But it is pitted against the primitive lusts and enjoyment of pain and cruelty.

We have the science and technology but do we possess the will?

We are still ruled by primitive desires and blind irrational belief. We believe some fantasy figure has it all planned out and like superman will leap to our defence.

There is no superman. It’s time we grew up and sorted our problems for ourselves.

The road ahead looks bleak. The other road is strewn with flowers and the sound of nature.

Against the odds we naked apes, nature’s joke, have got this far. How much further?