And the Bough Breaks

They will have their time of glory
The arrogant – consumed by greed –
Heavy-handed deeds ordained
Power lorded over those beneath…
They will have their gold and jewels
And their land and money –
For a time they will possess
Over those possessed of want
Their kind will flourish;
They will pass on their spoils
To those whose blood is as rich,
Shedding blood to advance further…
They will have their golden ages
Bought, on the backs of the poorer,
Purchased and conquered;
They will enjoy their spoils
For a time,
Before it crumbles,
As it always does,
As history has predicted…
But they will grow fat and slow,
Flaunting appearances to impress
Consumed and consigned to fire –
Of Vanity, Gluttony, Indulgences,
By any form of Drug known to all
By Sex and Substance and Vice
By Food and Drink to waste;
And most of all, possessed of Self,
Looking relentlessly into mirrors
Seeking out all their reflections,
Pining over others’ riches as if poor
Pettiness harvested by envy
While lesser people relent
To comfort themselves
With faux comforts of the same,
Emulating definitions of the rich
Proclaiming:
The measure of a man
Is in what ownership reveals
And not from within –
Not in honor or integrity
Not requiring sacrifice;
Remorseless and unmerciful…
Great empires have fallen hence
As history has predicted:
The arrogant are always overcome;
In their hubris lies reality –
In the hour of blindness
The bough will break,
Taking all the king’s men…
All is revealed –
In parts –
Until the sum of all fears
Becomes apparent;
That these realities forged
Were but the greater illusion
Reluctantly giving way
To ordinary things and people…
Then the tides of words will declare
Rebellion against the complacency
That hubris had eroded of humanity
In the name of the same;
The lowly will rise up
Just as history has predicted,
Becoming known
Challenging past status quos
Until it all begins again,
And,
Until the next golden age.

~J. L. Tornquist
(First written in March 2005 and updated in January 2009)