Lowering of the Bar

Once there was a land where stanadrds were high and milk and honey flowed, As freely, and as efficiently as if they were water. Every year the locals took stock of how much they had improved on the Year before and raised the bar even further. Sure they had setbacks but they set the bar high, Only taking notice of what the rest of the world was doing When a bar somewhere was set higher, Then the bar would be raised to the higher level, Though never was the bar lowered to standards set elsewhere. Then one day things began to change, As the land that had disappeared under the radar, Once more appeared out of the mist And caught the attention of a world that was in awe of How high they had raised their bar. And as they flocked to in to see for themselves just how high the bar could go, They were not shy in turning their awe into praise. At first shoulders were shrugged and the movement of the bar was unaffected, Until the flattery that had before arrived as a trickle became a river And the vanity of the locals rose to match that flow. From there it was all downhill as the locals for the first time in living memory, Started resting on their laurels, And the bar began to wobble, Before falling a notch or two. Still, there was no need for concern, After all the bar was set higher than in other lands. As those who came from them were quick to point out. And anyway the locals were now too busy building their own vanity units, To wonder how low the the bar needed to go, Before the rest of the world stopped singing their praises and Started saying we told you so. And lost interest in the land of milk and honey, At the bottom of the world, Populated by Kiwis who for a while were sitting at the top of the tree, With the eagles and who had taught the rest of the world To soar to new heights. Oh if you who came to their shores in awe, Had only taken note and chosen a different song to sing to the locals, How much sweeter could the milk and honey have been, With the bar raised high enough to be seen from Mars.