I BRING YOU SILENCE (message from Mars, 100,000 years)

 

In the undiscovered wildwood where forgotten breezes blow,

We bring you sudden silence in the secret ways we know.

Deep within the mountain shadows or alone upon the plains

You may seek but never find us, though our legacy remains.

When you scan the far horizons, only silhouettes appear

In the dusty desert landscapes of your western hemisphere.

None of us are left to see you with our weeping wounded eyes-

Races, cities, roads and cultures lost beneath the empty skies.

When your star is setting softly and the purple twilight builds

Take this silence, long and lasting to your forests and your fields.

Like the bison in their millions that once swarmed the grassy ways,

You may look but will not find us in these lesser, newer days.

Hold our silence close and listen, close your eyes and you may see

There is much that still is missing, that you call a mystery.

And it happened in an instant by the geologic clock

Yes it fell upon us fast in an all-consuming shock!

All your history is suspect - all your monuments and tombs

Built on undiscovered relics, countless ages and their dooms.

When your buildings, dams and cities disappear without a trace

There will come another builder who will blindly take your place.

You are one of many runners, in a race not few have run.

In a race that will continue ages after yours is done.