a new terrain of distinction

it began with that spark of the synapses
the electricity of life
working through human bodies;
a movement without cessation -

we prowled the earth
to tame, to crush wildflowers underfoot;
evolution stacks its extinct carcasses:
a stepladder for the victorious to rise.

the stench of blood, of primal battles,
has already soaked deep into the earth:
man turns to the crystal cut stars
in exhausted, body-worn boredom. 

the pure strike of light rays
puncturing through air to earth; 
coolly indifferent to its point of contact;
a universe stripped to laws, clean materials.

we yearn to eject from the earth,
to play with an unsullied space;
man stoops over workbenches with graphite pencils
and creates contraptions to catapult

our retired generals, our fleets of glory
to their new terrain of distinction.