We siphoned the water
And damned the rivers
And wondered why the parchness grew.
 
Prosperity begat decay
And from decay 
Prosperity sprung forth:
Like an only child
Destined for several winters
But no more.
 
Consumption knew no bounds
Except when fire and rains
Ringbarked the core of civilized ways.
 
ii
We drove the guardians from the land
We fed the myth of might and fear
And fought in deed and word
To labour in the winners circle: free and feared.
 
The catastrophe of bonfires
Kept us warm
But the roots soon withered:
The flora rare, the trees felling. 
Animals were robbed of land
While housing plots were selling.
 
Like the thorniest weed
We spread across the land
Inclined as choking vine
Bereft of deep connection.
 
iii
How is it that this river
That ran for millenniums
Is now an artefact of miserable husbandry
Its promise so cheaply betrayed?
 
Biblical in our malfeasance
We have gorged 
Upon this prickly land
Without deep thought and care
Quickly debarring in commonweal
Enlightenment’s harboursome ways.
 
In this the oldest continent
(Das land ohne historie)
Forgetfulness
Becomes the source of all prosperity:
(Allein und abgetrennt)
We sing to ward off memories sway.
 
Allein, we sing.

​
October 2023