Progress

As we walked through
The golden arches of enlightenment
Where did it lead us?

As we debated new ideas
We thought ourselves to progress
But try as we might
We could not change our nature

As we developed philosophies of peace
We practiced the art of war

As we argued for order
We found our hearts
To be in chaos

For as ignorance reigns
Fear will prevail

So we developed science
To understand
Because we did not

As we enhanced civilization
Did we deny life?

As we strove to understand
Did we confuse ourselves

We created a world we understood
Because we could not hope
To understand the world

Reviews

[Mitali Shah]

As we developed philosophies of peace
We practiced the art of war

As we argued for order
We found our hearts
To be in chaos

understanding and bringing out the aspects of humanity Marcus is not easy to portray and you have done it so well. Good work :)

[marcus]

thank you!

[Nadia Gerassimenko]

"As we developed philosophies of peace
We practiced the art of war"
Those truthful and wise words are a punch in your face. Have we really advanced as humane humans? Maybe only certain parts of us, but I feel like we are degrading more and more.

"We created a world we understood
Because we could not hope
To understand the world"
I totally agree. We have built a world that is easy for us to understand, but that doesn't mean it's a world that thrives or sustains for too long. Instead of actually accepting the world that was created for us initially.

[marcus]

I'm so glad you liked it!

[The Twin Arenas]

It's good man, but gimme more details. Get specific. Don't be afraid to distill it all down. Trust your reader. Gimme progress in minutia. Gimme the thing that is all of this, and write about it. Someone told me once that poetry is life distilled, and that's the best advice I've ever been given on it.

[marcus]

I'm afraid if I add the details it would have to turn into a book!
This poem started as "The problems with democracy as I see are many, Nothing ever can get done and we waste a pretty penny" And I wanted to make it explicit, but then somehow it changed on me into something else!

[Michael Stevens]

"As we developed philosophies of peace
We practiced the art of war" Seems to sum up the state of the world, no?

[~]

Marcus, you have captured some great points of humanity strive for progress and their journey. There will always be mistakes, hopefully we will not only replay setbacks as humanity.
:D

[....................]

Progress equals your last stanza, for me anyway... you make many valid points regarding how in striving to improve ourselves and the world around us, we have not been able to quell the thirst for power, money and material wealth; we have still not learned how to share and get along with one another... all that we have achieved is the ability to acquire information more quickly and how to avoid life by hiding from it...

This is a thought-provoking piece, Marcus...

[marcus]

thank you!

[iand63]

We created a world we understood
Because we could not hope
To understand the world


How true, great piece of writing Marcus

[marcus]

thank you!