From their beginnings,
mortal gods created heaven on Earth.
On all seven days they rested,
and they felt that it was good.
And multiply they did.
Divide they did also,
until the fruitful hardly noticed
the milk and honey getting scarce.
They wrote books that made it holy
to pursue the goal of leisure—
to keep dividing amongst themselves,
for leisure's other name is progress.
Blessed are they, said the saints,
who turn nature into beauty.
Thus the wheel begat the wagon
begat the wonders of the world.
The tree of knowledge first was logged,
then genetically re-mastered;
sold as living room-sized hybrids
for the homes the rich ones built.
As they divided and divided,
progress multiplied and multiplied,
spread across the land,
rose up to dwell in heaven.
And the sun turned black as sackcloth.
And their fish and fowl went missing.
And they subtracted and subtracted,
until they finally equaled zero.






6 old applause
