Aurora

Stygian darkness cloaks the land,
without relief of light.
Enlightenment had made its stand,
then fell this mortal night.

We watched humanness bleed away,
intrigued, too slow to act,
as ignorance and greed held sway:
fictional fantasy made dystopian fact.

Now we cluster
in obscurity:
you in your tribe,
I in mine.
Now we speak
of might have been;
we weep
for our lost time.

Hate, greed, and bigotry
killed kindness,
love, and inclusion,
as the jackboots of history
trampled hearts,
destroying minds.
We were the enablers!
Political control no mystery.

But wait!  What is that glimmer
pulsing in the tenebrous night?
Like Pandora’s box, the shimmer
coaxes hope into tremulous flight.

Our horizon is brightened,
gloomy shadows disappear:
we are no longer frightened.
Love watches darkness clear.