As the reign of Leviathans
Turned to Krakens' plans,
The sons of Stomatos
Began their glorious
Multiplication vast
Upon the earth at last.
And daughters fair were born
From evening until morn.
From Laurentia's shore
To Siberia's lore,
From Baltica's might
To Avalonia's sight,
Even to frigid lands
Of Gondwana's strands,
The sons of Stomatos
Grew numbers, glorious.
To each son there fell
A star, and wishes tell
Of thousand grandsons born
From evening until morn.
The sons of Stomatos
Built bodies, glorious,
Of Carbon, and made tombs
Like mausoleums' rooms
Of coal so black and deep
Where ancestors would sleep.
Taking Carbon from the air
But leaving everywhere
Dioxide in the sky
While Terra's cloak would fly
Away, and she grew cold,
As ancient stories told.
She grew frigid, unwelcoming,
No longer beckoning
To those who loved her warm
Embrace in gentle form.
Her ice caps grew so wide,
Her seas began to hide
Behind the frozen wall
That answered winter's call.
Soon Gondwana became
Nothing but ice's claim—
A wasteland white and stark
Where none could make their mark.
But to the sons of Stomatos
This meant more, glorious
Land where they could spread
Their empire overhead.
King Hirnan the great
Became the potentate
Who united every son
Of Stomatos begun
In conquest of the earth.
He lived where there was mirth
In land of Avalonia
And province of Holonia.
Hirnan built with might
A billion dikes upright
And levies strong and tall,
And cities over all
The landscape far and wide.
He destroyed with pride
The habitats that were
In seas, and would not spare
A single living space
For any other race
That might compete with him
For resources growing dim.
And so countless hosts
Of trilobites like ghosts
Began to die away,
Their lands seized every day
By sons of Hirnan who
Would make their empire through
Conquest and through might
Both day and through the night.
In their last effort made
A million trilobites prayed
And then invaded strong,
A desperate throng
That smashed through every dike
That Hirnan's folk would like
To keep them from the land
They'd built with their own hand.
But alas, all in vain—
The trilobites' campaign
Would end in suffocation,
Their complete frustration.
No trilobite would ever
Reach land, however clever
Their plan or strong their will—
The air would always kill
Those who were meant for sea
And could not ever be
Adapted to the air
That filled the atmosphere.
Hirnan bore two sons:
Moses when day begun
And Osiris the strong
Who lived his whole life long.
Moses became the father
Of mosses, who would rather
Live simple, humble lives
Where small beauty thrives.
Osiris bore two more:
Polysporos to explore
And Anthoceros, who'd be
Living peacefully.
Anthoceros became
The father of the name
Of hornworts everywhere
Who grow with gentle care.
Polysporos became
The father of great fame
Of ferns and flowers bright
And trees that reach for height.
The sons of Brachios
Struggled, not glorious
As they had been before
In ages' ancient lore.
The sons of Lingulus
Died in numbers thus
Greater than ever known—
Their glory overthrown.
Never again would they
Regain their golden day
Of power in the sea
And their dynasty.
But as Hirnan's rule
Became oppression's tool,
The sons of Metazo
Began once more to grow.
Alas the sons of Hirnan
Didn't stop their plan
There, but continued on
From dusk until dawn
Their conquest of the earth
That gave them so much mirth
To see all life bow down
Before their thorny crown.
The Glomerings would mine
The rocks with design
For fertilizer's sake,
Whatever it would take
To manufacture tons
Of phosphorus, and done
With this, they'd pour it out
Throughout the world about.
Some went to crops they grew,
But most went flowing through
The rivers to the sea
Where it would always be
A poison in the water
That none could ever slaughter
Or remove from the flow
Where it would always go.
In rivers thick scum grew,
In oceans, dark and blue
No more, the sun was blocked
And all life was shocked
By this catastrophe
That stretched from sea to sea
Across the world entire
Like some unholy fire.
Rotting seaweed choked
All water, and it smoked
With death and with decay
Throughout the night and day.
Soon it was impossible
To breathe—the terrible
Smell of death filled the air
And poison everywhere
Made life a living hell
Where none could ever dwell
In comfort or in peace
Without finding release
In death's cold, welcome arms
That protected from the harms
Of this poisoned world
Where death's flag was unfurled.
The seas turned lifeless, dead,
And over them was spread
The tyranny of those
Who never would suppose
That life had any right
To live in their sight
If it stood in their way
Of conquest every day.
The entire ocean fell
Under Hirnan's spell
Of death and devastation
Across every nation
Of life beneath the sea
That once was home so free
To creatures great and small
Who answered life's sweet call.
The great houses of might—
Leviathan's delight
And Kraken's dynasty—
Were wiped from history.
From off the earth they passed,
Their glory couldn't last
Against the poison tide
That covered far and wide
The ocean that they loved
And where they always moved
In majesty and power
Until this darkest hour.
Among the trilobites
The great houses' plights
Were sealed: Agnos fell,
Ptychos couldn't tell
His story anymore,
And Asaphos, before
So mighty and so strong,
Was crippled life long.
Never again would they
Reach their golden day
Of glory in the time
Of Ordovician rhyme.
And so the golden age
Closed its final page.
The Ordovician time
Was past its living prime.
The sons of Silur came
To conquer and to claim
The ashes of the past
And build their future last.
The Silurian would rise
Beneath different skies
Where life would start anew
From what survivors knew
Of how to carry on
When all hope seemed gone
And death had claimed the day
In its destructive way.
From Stomatos' sons' choice
To let conquest be their voice
Instead of harmony
With life's symphony,
Came lessons written deep
In rocks where fossils sleep
Of what the world becomes
When greed its power sums
Into a force so strong
That right cannot win from wrong
And life must pay the price
For others' avarice.
The trilobites' last stand
Against Hirnan's hand
Shows courage in the face
Of hopeless disgrace,
But also shows the cost
When battles are lost
Not by the weak to strong
But by those who belong
To elements that can't
Survive where others grant
No mercy and no space
For any other race.
The ice age that began
From Stomatos' plan
To take but never give
Shows how some choose to live:
By taking all they can
Without a care or plan
For what their actions do
To me and you
And every living thing
That cannot offering
Resistance to their greed
That plants destruction's seed.
The phosphorus that flowed
Into rivers and slowed
All life within the sea
Shows how we can be
Destroyers without thought
Of what our actions brought
To others who must share
The water and the air.
The golden age that passed
Shows nothing good can last
When some choose to destroy
Rather than enjoy
The beauty that is shared
By all who ever cared
For life in all its forms
Through calm and raging storms.
But from the ashes rise
New hope beneath new skies
Where those who learned the cost
Of all that had been lost
Can build a better way
For life's eternal day
Where harmony, not greed,
Plants every living seed.
The Silurian dawn
When old death was gone
Would bring new hope to those
Who faced destruction's throes
And lived to tell the tale
Of how they would not fail
To build life once again
Despite the grief and pain.
From Hirnan's tyranny
To Silur's dynasty,
The wheel of time turns on
From dusk until dawn
With lessons written clear
For all who have an ear
To hear what history says
About our living days:
That greed destroys all life
And brings eternal strife,
But those who choose to share
Will find life everywhere
Ready to begin
Again, and always win
In the end, because love
Is blessed from above
With power to restore
What was lost before
And make the world anew
For me and you today.
The golden age may end
But life will always mend
What greed has torn apart
With love's eternal heart
That beats in every soul
Who plays a caring role
In life's eternal song
That makes the weak grow strong.
From Ordovician glory
To Silurian story,
The earth keeps turning on
From dusk until dawn
With life that will not die
Beneath the starry sky
But always finds a way
To live another day
Despite what greed may do
To me and you
And all who call earth home
Wherever we may roam.
The sons of Stomatos
May think they're glorious
In conquest and in might,
But life will always fight
For its eternal right
To fill the world with sight
Of beauty and of grace
In every living place
Where love has found a way
To live another day
Despite destruction's call
That threatens one and all.
The golden age returns
Whenever someone learns
To choose love over greed
And plant a better seed
For future generations
Across all the nations
Of life upon the earth
Who celebrate love's worth
Above all else that's known
By hearts that have grown
To see that sharing's way
Brings joy to every day
While greed brings only pain
That falls like acid rain
On all who choose to live
But never learn to give.
The Ordovician end
Reminds us to befriend
All life in every form
Through calm and raging storm
So golden ages may
Return another day
When love has won the fight
Against the endless night
Of greed that tries to kill
All life, but never will
Succeed, because love's power
Grows stronger every hour
In hearts that choose to care
For life everywhere
That grows beneath the sun
Until all time is done.