Did we forget along the way

Why we are here

Though we were told countless times,

The message written on the door?

 

When did we forget?

When the first bomb made us conscious

Of our under-whelming insignificance?

When science discovered the stars that inspire

Awe were already dead?

When we established that our ancestors

Were apes or fish or frogs?

No longer special we quit

Regaling the silent universe with the stories

Of our own magnificence.

 

The universe nods,

“Sure, you’re the sons and daughters of gods!”

Straight face, tongue in infinite cheek,

“You have changed the world, you’re in control,

Walked the moon, mapped the genome!”

Well done, it smiles,

And curls a laconic lip,

Coolly stretches its eternal miles.

​

​

 

 

​

The Message Written On the Door published in Foliate Oak Literary Journal, May 2010