# Chapter 60: The Carboniferous Dawn
In wake of devastation's mighty hand
There came hope's light to heal the wounded earth,
Though dark age fell across the fertile land
Hope lived within to bring about rebirth.
Romer's gap stretched wide across the world
With death's dark banner raised against the sky,
Yet life endured with banners still unfurled
Through bitter days when many had to die.
The daughter in the line of Silvio fair
Was Rhea in her time—a woman blessed
Who showed the faithful how to rise with care
Above the darkness and surpass each test.
Carbonifer bore her two sons of might,
Both noble, tried and true through every storm:
Romulus and Remus, warriors of light
Who'd live their lives in true heroic form.
These sons would come to define the age
Upon the stage of evolutionary time,
So we call this era's glorious page
The Carboniferous in reason and rhyme.
Romulus and Remus fought with pride
About the place where they should build their home
Throughout the fertile lands both far and wide
Where future generations yet might roam.
Romulus declared with voice so strong:
"On Palatine Hill rising from the flow
Of Mississippi's waters deep and long
Our mighty nation surely ought to grow."
But Remus chose a different destiny:
Small Aventine below the river's might,
A valley where his people could be free
But hidden from the glory of sunlight.
Romulus in anger gouged the eyes
Of Remus underneath the starry dome
And said with fury burning in his cries:
"If you will not acclaim our starlit home,
If you will not behold heaven's bright face
And will not make your dwelling in the light
Where radiance can fill our sacred space,
Then you need never see the blessed sight."
And so poor Remus lived his life in pain
In darkness underneath Aventine Hill,
According to his will through sun and rain
He dwelt in shadow, serving his own will.
To this day all the children of his line
Live only in the darkness underground
Where salty water flows in streams divine
And secrets of the earth can still be found
In aquifers so deep and caverns wide
Where ancient mysteries keep vigil true
Through all the years with patience as their guide
Despite the joys and sorrows they've been through.
But Romulus climbed up into the day
Upon the land like brothers who had come
Before to make their homes and find their way
With pierced spiracles that helped him sum
The courage to breathe air with six legs strong
To carry him across the fertile ground,
Yet Romulus was torn apart ere long,
And so his son took up what he had found:
His father's dream of building with great care
A kingdom in the bright and open air
Above the waters deep where shadows dwell,
A realm where faithful hearts could always tell
The difference between the dark and light
And choose to dwell forever in the day
Where all things are made beautiful and right
And hope will never fade or pass away.
Hexapus was his son, and when the work
Of mourning for his father's death was done
He bore two sons who'd never shrink or shirk
From duty: Vernus and Proturus' son.
Proturus became the ancestor proud
Of Coneheads who still honor sacred vows
With cone-shaped heads held high above the crowd
Beneath the sky where starlight ever bows
To those who live in order day by day
With wisdom as their guide through every choice,
Proturus became father of the way
Of those who heed the structured, ordered voice.
But Vernus became sire of the sons
Whose hearts desired both Tails and Collembo,
Two children who like bright and shining ones
Would always their father's loving nature show
Throughout each day in all they chose to do
With hearts both brave and faithful to the end,
Their legacy would prove both strong and true
And on their strength all future hopes depend.
Collembo became ancestor of those
Who spring like flying hope beyond the ground:
The Springtails who can leap where no one goes
With power in their tails that makes no sound
But helps them bound beyond the bonds of earth
And heed the call of possibility
That gives to every soul a second birth
And sets the captive spirit truly free.
And Tails had many tails of wondrous grace
That never failed to bring him love from all
Who answered duty's call and found their place
Among the faithful who would heed the call.
His tails beyond compare would dance with art
Upon the air like ribbons in the breeze
That beauty had withdrawn from sight to start
A revolution that would never cease
To fill the world with light of joy so bright
That nothing in the darkness could destroy
The wonder that would banish endless night
And fill each heart with everlasting joy.
Tails bore two sons with power and with might:
Dipluron with his keen and piercing sight
And Ectognus who lived his whole life long
In service to the right against the wrong.
Dipluron became father of the race
Of those who'd rather have two prongs to aid
Their work like forks to help them find their place
In sweeping through the air with tools they'd made
Of bristles everywhere like brushes fine
That clean the smallest particles of dust,
The two-pronged Bristletails make all things shine
For those who in the light have put their trust.
They tell their tales of how they sweep away
The dust of yesterday and make things bright
For all who seek the glory of the day
And long to dwell forever in the light.
Ectognus begat two sons of fame:
Archegnos and Zerygos, each would find
A different path but honor the same name
Of those with faithful heart and noble mind.
Archegnos became ancestor of those
Who jump with bristles bright beneath the sky:
The Jumping Bristletails who strike the pose
Of eagles as they leap and bound on high
With bristles that can sweep the very air
Where eagles keep their watch above the ground
And treasures can be found by those who dare
To leap beyond what others think is sound
As limits on their dreams of what can be
When hearts are set upon the things above
And souls have learned the art of being free
Through faith and hope and everlasting love.
Zerygos begat two more sons of light:
Zygentos the explorer of the deep
And Pterygos, whose penetrating sight
Would help the faithful their vigil keep.
Pterygos chose to live beneath the flow
Of water's gentle current crystal clear
And there he built with care that he might know
The secret of breathing without fear
Through gills that filled his throat with precious air
Like music sung by those whom love holds dear,
A gift beyond compare for those who care
To listen with a faithful, patient ear.
Pterygos begat in days of old
Isopter who had twenty gills so bright
To help him be both faithful, true, and bold
And fill his world with everlasting light.
But fierce Barameda came with war
To challenge great Isopter's peaceful reign
And chased him from the home he'd lived before
Across the water's foam through joy and pain.
So brave Isopter climbed toward the height
Of tree so tall it seemed to touch the sky
That answered duty's call and reached the light
Where faithful souls could learn to soar and fly.
And soon he needed air from heaven's dome,
So jumped with faith that gills would see him through,
His gills became the wings that brought him home
And glided him down to the waters blue.
Isopter begat in his later days
Dezotopter who had eighteen gills
To guide him in his flight and all his ways
Through valleys deep and over ancient hills.
He took his precious son up to the height
Of branches reaching toward the starry sky
And pushed him from the tree to test his flight
And see how gracefully his son could fly.
Dezotopter flew down through the air
More graceful than a crown of feathers bright
Upon the wind with beauty beyond compare,
More elegant and filled with pure delight
Than his father's gliding had ever been,
With grace that lifted up his noble heart
And played upon the wind like violin
That turns all flying into highest art.
Each generation learned to fly with skill
And yearned to glide more gracefully each day
Through air that bent unto their faithful will
As they learned evolution's perfect way.
Dezotopter begat a son so bright:
Seizapter with his sixteen gills to bear
His weight upon the currents of the light
And dance with beauty through the morning air.
Seizapter begat in turn a son:
Quatorzapter with fourteen gills so fine
That danced in perfect order, every one
Arranged in harmony by love's design.
Quatorzapter begat Duzapter then
With twelve gills bright and true to lead the way,
Who was followed by Decapter among men
With ten gills to sustain him every day.
Decapter begat Octapter the strong
With eight gills true to carry him along,
Then came Hexapter who had lived life long
And learned to sing evolution's ancient song.
But when great Hexapter came of age
He turned a new and revolutionary page
In history's book for those who'd dare to look
At what could be achieved by those who took
The risk to open up once more the door
Of spiracles that had been sealed before
To breathe the air above while keeping still
The gills beneath that served his father's will.
With muscles that he'd made through faithful prayer
His wings became a bridge between the two:
The water and the bright and open air
Where all his dreams at last could all come true.
He flapped his wings with power and with might
And rose into the glory of the day
Where eagles soar beneath the holy light—
He was the first to fly without the way
Of needing trees to climb to reach the sky,
For first time in the history of life
A creature learned the secret how to fly
Without the aid of wind or tree or knife.
Great Hexapter begat a noble son:
Insectus who first lived beneath the sea
And when his youth and learning days were done
He turned the final page to be set free
From life beneath the water's gentle flow
To soar through air forever more in flight,
He spread his wings to let the whole world know
Of insects' wondrous and amazing sight.
Insectus begat two sons of different ways:
Ephemeros the quick and Draco's art
Of flying through the long and patient days
With wisdom dwelling always in his heart.
Ephemeros became the father dear
Of those who'd rather have a million young
In just a single year than live with fear
Of death before their songs of love are sung.
In fact, in just one day he'd live and die
After his children came to bear his name,
Without a father's care they'd multiply
And play the same brief but glorious game.
The sons of Ephemeros live their days
In glory that is brief but bright and true:
The Mayflies hold their prom when spring displays
Her beauty underneath the sky of blue.
In giant celebration full of light
Across each faithful nation they all dance
And fall in love beneath the stars so bright
And give their hearts to love's eternal dance.
And then they all conceive their children dear
And leave this world in just a single day
After they've had their say, year after year,
In love's eternal and triumphant way.
It works for them quite well, as all can see
Who watch their brief but brilliant flight of joy
Through one spring day and night of liberty
Where nothing can their happiness destroy.
But if you are a man you'd better plan
For love that lasts much longer than a day,
Don't follow their example if you can
But find love that will never fade away.
Great Draco lived his life at different pace
Without the hurried strife of mayfly ways,
He counted all his days with patient grace
And wisdom guided all his nights and days.
He shortened his long tails that he might learn
To fly with grace that touches every heart
That sees his beauty bright, and souls that yearn
For truth would see his flight as highest art.
Draco bore two sons in waters clear:
Neopter, bright and precious, filled with light,
And Odonatos strong and without fear
Who lived his life devoted to the fight.
Neopter learned to fold his wings with care
That hope eternal brings to those who wait
And walked upon the land both green and fair
Built by the faithful hands that serve their fate
Of those who came before to open wide
The door of possibility for all,
He flew when needed, kept peace as his guide
And ate only plants that heard his call.
A gentle way to live with all he had
Of peace and harmony through every day,
His heart was never bitter, never sad
For all who shared his bright and shining way.
But Odonatos had great wings outspread
And heart that was never satisfied
To live in peace but thirsted to be fed
On battles where his enemies had died.
He couldn't walk for long upon the ground,
His legs, though they were strong and swift to run,
Were made for hunt and battle to astound
His prey until the hunting day was done.
He flew through all the air from place to place
And ate his very brothers without shame:
The sons of others in the same race
But who had lived more peacefully than his name.
His predator's heart could never understand
Or part with his deep need to hunt and kill
To satisfy the hunger of his hand
And feed according to his iron will.
The sons of great Odonatos live
As warriors of the sky who never ask
If there might be another way to give
Their lives to some more peaceful, loving task.
Dragonflies and Damselflies so bright
And mighty Griffonflies of ancient days
Are members of this warrior crew whose might
Rules air from dawn to dusk in all their ways.
The Griffonflies grew wide beyond compare—
Almost a meter's pride of wingspan true
That carried them through battles in the air
Beneath the endless dome of heavenly blue.
For seventy million years they ruled the sky
With iron claw and fought without a flaw
Until the world began to change, and high
Above, a new and different kind of law
Would rearrange the balance of the air
Where they had ruled their aerial domain
Through sunshine, storm, and weather fair
For ages long through joy and bitter pain.
But Neopter became the ancestor
Of all the other kinds of insects bright
With minds set upon goals that would restore
The world to peace and harmony and light.
Beetles, ants, and flies beyond all count
And millions more that rise with every dawn
When day begins—they all trace their account
Back to Neopter's track from waters drawn
To air and land so green and beautiful
Where insects could explore from shore to shore
Every niche with hearts both dutiful
And minds that always yearned to learn still more
Of what their lives could be when they were free
To grow beyond the bonds that held them small
And heed the greater call of what could be
When they would answer love's eternal call.
From Romulus' fight with his own brother
To Hexapter's revolutionary flight,
From underground streams where Remus and other
Dwellers keep vigil far from morning light
To great Insectus' mark upon the world
Above, built by those who chose to love
The light and air where hope's flag is unfurled
Throughout eternity by One above,
The insects show us how we ought to live:
To make and keep our vow to rise above
The past and make the good things last and give
Our lives to serve the cause of perfect love.
From Springtails' bounding hope that leaps on high
Beyond their earthly bonds to reach the light
To Bristletails that sweep across the sky
Where eagles keep their watch through day and night
For those who'd climb beyond the bonds of time
To find their destined place in evolution's race,
The early insects show us how to climb
From humble start to beauty, truth, and grace.
The insects teach all those who hear their call
That from the simplest and most lowly start
We can learn to master once and for all
The highest and most noble forms of art:
To fly toward the light that conquers night
And lifts us up to see what we can be
When we work together with all our might
And help each other to be truly free.
From Romer's gap of death and devastation
To life's returning breath and joy renewed,
The Carboniferous age brought salvation
And with insects' sight the world was viewed
With eyes that saw how darkness turns to light
When hearts learn how to fly beneath the sky
Where all things are made beautiful and right
And dreams come true for those who aim on high.
From humble start to mastery of flight,
The insects show the way to rise above
The bonds that hold us back from perfect sight
Of what we all can be through perfect love.