Ozymandias

 Ozymandias

The king looked across the ravaged country

And heard the cries that carried on the wind

Of peoples once proud and worried only

For their Spanish villas and their French weekends. 

They have lived beyond their means for half a century

Heedless of good luck and thinking it hard work

While millions famished in the Horn of Africa

Not seeing millions toiling in the Philippines. 

The only question is why it took so long

For the tottering pyramid to come tumbling down

How gravity was suspended for five decades

How the party lasted onto the  dreary dawn?

Look around and see the wasteland now

The soil degraded by the stuff at home

Once bought, forgotten and discarded

If we could only throw the dice again. 

The sun goes down on broken buildings

With shattered glass that housed the business center

No longer needed when the crops don’t grow

Survival is the only game they know. 

Son of man, don’t be sad

Just be grateful that it lasted

All good things will have an ending

Enjoy this journey while you can.