We Were Humanity

We were humanity,

crawling from the depth of the sea

or banished from Eden’s Garden,

evolving, the tiller of soil,

weaver of flax, the huntsman providing,

forming into clans and tribes,

kingdoms, towns, and cities,

organized into territories, states

and nations, centers of commerce,

and intellectual pursuits, the arts,

growing larger, countries ordered

across this revolving, rotating

rock in space, Earth’s people

building lives and community,

and it was so, blessed as goodness.

 

We were humanity.

And now we watch the earth

burning around us, the sound

of rockets and bullets and hatred,

a red-yellow glow signifying death,

wondering, perhaps, where we erred,

our prayers to the gods-that-be falling

now on deaf ears, alone in our silence,

awaiting an uncertain end …

 

We were humanity.