Earth was born in an Age of Fire
in the midst of the chill black void
and it swam in an Age of Primeval Soup
dotted with a few bare rocks
loose protein wiggled into the shape of a cell
and Life burst teeming in a thousand forms
throughout the Ocean, but
a few loose proteins still wiggled free
algae looking for some open space found the open air
sprouted so many forms that very air was changed
down in the trenches tubeworms still breathed sulfur
some poor fish crowded out of his niche
climbed up to find some peace on an open rock
most stayed, sleek and satisfied, where storms don't rage
when lizards grew great
amphibians still basked in the shallows
by the time apes began to pound their chests
the Galapagos tortoise was ancient and content
Humans trace an Age of Stone, of Bronze and Iron and Industry
and Information, which tells us that in the world today
there are tribes chipping tools of stone,
Galapagos tortoises ancient and content,
amphibians still basking in the shallows,
fish swimming where the storms don't rage,
tubeworms in the ocean trenches breathing sulfur,
loose and uncelled proteins wriggling free,
bare rocks sticking out of soupy ocean,
in the middle of a chill black void
Progress isn't over yet
and neither is the rest of life.