Long before, when the world was dark
We huddled and hid in caves
We were small and quiet
Because we had to be
Our nightmares stalked moonlit fields
In search of the lost, the wounded,
the lonely, the exposed
...the scared...
They’re bigger in our imaginations
monsters of many genres
And in the stories and legends,
They’d grow wings and take off above the clouds
They’d howl out in victory over us
How they loved to be feared
And even the silence was stained
With their insatiable hunger
It’s hard to remember those times
But the fear lives on inside us
Baked into our brains
And somewhere deep in pre-history
In the time before remembering
...We had fire...
A miracle, a gift, a trick we learned
And we’ve been transfixed ever since
From the first moment
it was just like that.
Its safety and warmth all consuming
Our eyes drifting closer and closer to the light

Soon we roasted the beasts that once stalked us
Over an open flame
And drew their shapes on our cave walls
And, unafraid, we named them
And moved out into the open fields
And claimed their world
And one technology begot another
Always with a better way to kill the beasts
Who knew that the fire would spread exponentially?
It took a few thousand years but it did
The fire spread into everything everywhere
A world of lights, flickering, dancing
And the lights say "do this"
And the lights say "look over here"
And you can touch the fire now
It will bring you groceries
In many ways we’re the same still
Transfixed by fire
And afraid of monsters
Even Prometheus, still chained to that cliff face
Wonders if it was worth it after all
"Don’t they know they’re stuck with it now?"
The world is burning— that’s what they say
The fire is all or nothing
And there’s only one way forward
...More Flames...
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