Bone Remnants
By Lloyd Michael Lohr
I gaze at the symbols of ideology left behind by the first ones,
those relics held in stasis at our interplanetary museum,
bones of long-past cultures remind us of more complicated times,
of stars and stripes and sickles and hammers,
of bronze plaques declaring good will toward humanity,
as bombs rained down upon the ancient cities in the jungle,
and Angkor-Wat cried out for relief.
What would their reaction be to learn that we live here,
in autonomous harmony,
parted from the shores of their far-removed time,
it makes me wonder what they would say,
what they would do,
if they could see our gleaming lunar cities,
only the first of many collective accomplishments,
for tribal man in solar space,
as the blue and clouded image of the distant Earth,
reflects upon our domed and mirrored sky.
A lunar colony they would have thought not possible, in their day,
surely you jest,
they would have said as they played Frisbee in the moondust,
Yet this dream has indeed transpired.
for I walk amongst Earth-cast shadows and through my bedroom window,
I watch little moon devils swirl about, cajoled by the solar winds.
Much progress we have gained, yet there is so much more to accomplish,
as we continue to reach further out into the realm of endless night,
And leave more bones in our passing.
Poem copyright ©1999 by Lloyd Michael Lohr lohrl@marietta.edu
Artwork "Bone" © 1999 by Nicola Stratford <ncstrat@camtech.net.au>
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