I make of you one simple request
Enlighten me about the word progress
It does not seem to be an arcane word
But our understanding of it seems quite absurd

For the meaning itself cannot be applied
In the context we use it; when we say it with pride
I fail to see how it even exists
In a land where horrors recur and evil persists

Tell me what has changed from the beginning of time,
For the betterment of humankind?
The only variance I can see
Is the detriment of society

In fact, what we classify as having progressed
I will supplant with the truth: the world has digressed

Is progress the blue sky turned polluted gray?
Or the lush trees that shriveled, and dead now sway?
Is progress the continents melting into sea?
Or innocuous creatures from their homes forced to flee?

Is it the forest turned concrete jungle?
Or the arrogant and haughty made from the humble?
Is it the men who die at war?
Or is it the theft, the lies, and the gore?

Is progress the red men pushed from their land?
Or the dark men coerced to bear plow in hand?
Is progress the pain inflicted on the free?
Or the women obsequious servants made to be?

Is it the nightmare that arose from a dream?
Or the leaders turned tyrants who rule supreme?
Is it the avarice instilled in the selfish elite?
Or the peasants’ shrill cries that echo through the street?

Is progress the children bred to hate, to fear and despise?
Or our ignorance of the many wrongs in our lives?
Is progress our distorted sense of priority?
Or the merging of our minds with technology?

Is it the game turned foul play?
Or the relationships that have begun to decay?
Is it the once prolific nature that bears no fruit to give?
Or maybe the lives that are no longer lived?

This, in honesty, I promise thee
We see no more than we were made to see
And thus, the world has come to be

The world is contrasting to what perceive
Our own minds and values so petty and naïve,
The whole of mankind we have managed to deceive

There is one lesson to be learned from me;
Let me share with you this epiphany:
The world is no better than it was or shall be