So long ago, so long ago
They came together,
strangers, not kith and kin
or all the same tribe.
A strange human jigsaw puzzle.
That was us,
so many generations ago
A glimpse through an infinite window
to peer into our souls.
In the fertile crescent
between the two great rivers,
between the upper sea
and the lower sea,
where people found a land
where crops and humanity
could grow from such tender roots.
A second Garden of Eden,
a place where life was possible.
A chance for good order and progress.
Where rivers would flood
and it was good,
for life came from the soil
washed by the river’s benevolence.
The great experiment began in Uruk,
the author of all our stories
down the centuries.
In a land now broken
by war and savagery.
There they started something new,
a culture of cooperation and connection,
of production and progress.
A tree was planted that
spread its branches far and wide.
Masterpieces would be painted,
songs composed and sung,
prayers given for justice,
knowledge shared and
human imagination pushed us on.
Will it all now end in a
fatal flood without an Ark,
a forest fire without end
and a final famine without hope?
Will it all end as business as usual
becomes the business of survival?
And will the hard rain fall
as Heaven sadly cries
over what has been lost?
Who will we be in years to come?
Will the great experiment end
in nothing …
but tears and regrets?
