The Death Knell
This is one of two poems which show how my moods could swing fairly dramatically, probably due to depression. This poem is sombre and reflective, the other—Life’s Great—is upbeat and optimistic. This one also shows that I didn't have a very good understanding of my Christian faith at that time.
Back in the days of
yore,
Before you and me,
Before anything...
In fact
At
the very beginning,
There was a very wise man.
He said,
"I'm going to build myself a world.
It's going to be a
good world
Full of wonder and beauty.
It will have
snow-capped mountains;
It will have deep blue seas and
lakes.
On the lands will be
All kinds of plants,
And
thousands of species of animals.
The waters, too,
Will
shelter many plants and animals;
And in the sky will be
creatures
Soaring gracefully aloft."
It was a wonderful
dream...
And it would have been
A beautiful world.
But
for one thing.
That man,
Back in the days of yore,
Wise
as he was -
And even as he was shaping
His marvellous
vision -
Did one thing wrong.
He made one mistake:
He
decided to introduce one more animal
To this idyllic
world,
And give it
Authority over all the world.
Man.
He
introduced Man
And changed the course of the world.
Man came:
With his high
intelligence
And skilful hands.
He tore down,
Dug
up,
Destroyed.
He killed animals for food,
And clothed
himself in their skins.
Later he began to invent things:
First
the wheel,
Then a multitude of other contraptions.
Machines
of all kinds,
Gadgets,
Whirligigs,
All the time
increasing
In number,
In complexity,
In sophistication.
Man gradually raised his
standard of living,
And the pace of living increased.
The
speed increased;
The pressures increased.
Then came the
tensions.
Multiplying in number.
And devastating in their
severity.
It became too much for Man.
He lost control...
A
victim of his own lifestyle.
The wise man had a great and
noble dream;
But he sounded the death knell
For his perfect
world
When he introduced Man to it.
Instead of being Master
of the world,
Making it a beautiful place in which to
live,
Man has ruined it
And is Master of nothing.
• Written 23 March 1972. Copyright © 1999-2010 Alien Son. All rights reserved.