when humanity is taken by time
when every trace of our being is lost
when the last cries of our race are silenced
when even those who forgot us have gone

when our heavens scream, crashing down on us
when the earth is a lonely ball of dust
when our very last remains have decayed
when the melancholy stars fade away

will our accomplishments mean anything?

if meteors hurtle into new york
if shadows of asteroids smother us
if buildings collapse into silent heaps
if rubble litters the hills like poppies

if fire rains down from dark charcoal skies
if countries are leveled and lives ended
if the world rips to disparate halves
if every life is dead in an instant

will leaders do anything to stop it?

no,
we won’t dwell on such discouraging thoughts.
we can work them away with production.
we think only of the tangible now.
we revel in our limitless progress.

we can make newer, better advances.
we resolutely, proudly, march forward.
we watch the world take triumphant steps.
we ignore the abyss that lays ahead.

it draws disturbingly—eerily—close.