The old mourner stood looking down at the grave
Remembering all of the pleasure it gave
The one little stone with memories so dear
Made this old man shed all but a tear

“Why,” the man thought, “did it have to be so?
When the light of the day had just started to glow
The darkness consumed, and no mercy was shed
Next thing I knew everybody was dead!”

Then another man came and saw all the grief
But to see one more person was such a relief
“What happened?” exclaimed the young man with fear
“I woke up and saw that no one was here!”

The elder just stood and shook his head sadly
“I shall tell you,” he said, but not very gladly
“I’m afraid, my dear boy, it is just as you said
And this little fact fills me with much dread

“You see,” the old man’s story had begun
“When it started, everything used to be fun
Technology boomed, and people lived big
Majority became as fat as a pig

“But envy and avarice were quick to recover
As many of us soon began to discover
Quarrels broke out and threats started to scare
Nations once united were just left to tear

“Global warming kicked in and animals died
Problems could have been fixed but nobody tried
No that’s not fair, for some thought they might
Try to make a difference, but were shot on the sight

“Humanity went crazy; chaos broke into war
Right before my eyes were world wars three and four
Soldiers ran rampant, smog filled the air
The ozone layer was no longer there


“Bombs flew through the air, along with many limbs
Then one man decided to go out on some whims
He took his big bombs and let them all go
What followed was like a deadly light show

“Smoke filled the air as everyone died
It’s a miracle, even, that we have survived
For the silence that followed was sickest of all
With no one to talk to; no one to call

“And here is my last hope,” the old man finished
“For this great world that has now diminished”
In his hand he held a single white rose
“And I place it here so everyone knows

“What happens when power gets out of control
And when Death is the last cop left on patrol”
The young man listened then suddenly cried
For his civilization and himself that he realized had died

And the rose the old man now placed on the hearth
Of the tombstone engraved with one name: EARTH