2nd Generation: The Watchers
The old veterans of the forest,
Felled by beatle fiend and raving fires,
None remain. The strongest and oldest,
Reduced to acres of pyres.
There is a single newcomber,
The pale aspen that siphons the winds,
Dancing with two-faced mirth before the old lumber.
His roots spread for miles; he needs no kin.
Is he Shiva’s chosen one?
Forests shudder with the wind’s instrument.
If it’s the second coming, we must run.
His eyes are always watching, waiting.
—————
A gust of winds send shivers amid the silvan silence,
He stands guard with omniscient eye
Lest any predator test his vigilance,
Murmuring signals as his woodwinds sigh.
The meadows ripple in waves,
Tickle my toes with soft mossed lands,
And why not be as the winds behave?
None against them freely stand.
Like to a stray, it softly lures
‘till my feet move on their own.
Amid the wild-grained valley, if you go far,
Lies a rusted veteran truck,
Accoladed a faintly weathered USA print star,
Its wheels buried beneath the muck.
It bares a bed of ferns and moss
Where the sleepy curled fox watches.
I catch her gaze to gray clouds crossing,
But again her lazy eyes droop.
Why fear the gentle rains
that bring the forest life?
The humid blanket envelops us,
Reminiscent of the womb and maker,
And the curtains shut with the dark sky...
My senses are shook awake
When the train thunders by.
—————
The train tracks pass directly through
The remains of that witchy apothecary’s shop.
When she saw the eviction notice they drew,
That woman cursed the whole plot.
Nothing’s happened yet, though it still might.
The old villagers, they were all kicked the boot.
With modern technology, it was hardly a fight.
Old forests must die so new trees take root.
All must adapt, converge to perfection.
But now we’ve left behind Darwin’s way,
Taken on a god’s complexion,
Made machines in our own image for display.
The children cater to their creator’s needs;
To have an omniscient box,
Let a robot with your habits take the lead.
It’s the Internet of Things, made by the flock.
It’s much ease to let the car drive itself,
It’s delightful to shut off the lights with a snap,
But if food comes from a vendor, not a shelf,
When it all stops, the world goes to crap.
Is this Shiva’s will,
For the creator and child to become one?
If it’s the second coming, we must run.
Blue eyes, always watching, waiting.
Old US military trucks had a white star printed on them to identify them as American.
Shiva: Third god of the Hindu Trinity, the "God of Destruction." Things that Shiva destroys, such as evil, death, and ignorance, allow for positive recreation.
Internet of Things (IOT): Collective name for small computer gadgets which are not-quite-computers: ex. remote controls, cleaning robots, and automated lights.
