Evolutionary Sequel - Full Circle

Act 1: Earth

Water
Droplets fall to earth
Meniscus lens on the world -
Wellspring of life born

Air
Gaseous brew forms
Invisible elixir - 
A breath of fresh air

Fire
Destructive, cleansing
But giver of warmth and light – 
Fire’s dual perspective

Act 2: Plant

Leaf
Spring buds burst afresh
Summer leaves decay so soon – 
Death lords over all

Palm
Giant grass not tree
These swaying centurions -
Lives must co-exist

Sunflower
Massed bright sunflowers
Heads turn in obedience -
Sun sets on their lives

Act 3: Animal

Slug
Slug saw juicy leaf
Raced to eat this rare delight!
Bird swooped, slug no more

Ant
Ants march home in line
Communal desire on show -
Nature's will prevails

Butterfly
Winged beauty flutters
Abstract painting on her back -
Looks often deceive

Act 4: Man

Crescent
Curvaceous glory
The home of wealthy leisure -
Rich built upon poor

Gaudi
Parabolic waves
Acknowledge natural forms -
Colour outlaws grey

Dubrovnik
Sun shines on pan tiles
The town's uniform new shell -
War scars fade slowly

Act 5: Machine – the final chapter

Computer
Bits, bytes, ones, zeros
So Charles and Ada conceive -
IT’s Pandora’s box

Robot
Man and beast replaced
Same task over and over -
Objective carnage

AI
Boolean bible
Artificial ignorance -
Logical ending

Postscript: Evolutionary finale

Obliteration
Human destruction of earth -
Annihilation


Poetry Soup Featured Poem: August 16, 2020

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Alan Ford

Date: 6/12/2020 6:24:00 AM

Yes, great idea well developed. Like the others as well.

Franci Hoffman

Date: 6/10/2020 2:29:00 PM

Exceptional use of Haiku poems plus a brilliant piece. Bravo!

John Watt

Date: 6/9/2020 11:27:00 AM

Simon, I find this absolutely BRILLIANT. I may have to borrow this construct of haiku in trios and five acts to tell a larger story (I'll have my agent send your agent the royalty checks as soon as they start making a profit, haha!) I've already commented on your Machine entry, but I liked the plant sequence, the Gaudi haiku, the butterfly with the abstract painting, and the cautionary summary. Enjoyed this very much and going into my faves ~ John

Simon Rogerson
Date: 6/10/2020 2:14:00 PM

Hi John - Many thanks for your kind words. I found the five acts of three a powerful structure. Simon

Anisha Dutta

Date: 6/9/2020 10:52:00 AM

EXCELLENT. Species originate, pass through evolution may face extinction. Human will not be exception. But evolution will continue in some other form.

Simon Rogerson
Date: 6/10/2020 2:17:00 PM

Anisha. Glad you liked it! History has a habit of repeating itself and who knows after COVID-19. You might be interested in my COUPLET-19 about this very subject. Simon