Devon's city was the greatest sight
Among all cities burning bright
In that era, and so
The name would always show:
The new era was called
Devonian, enthralled
By Devon's mighty rule
Like some divine school.
As Devon sat upon
The ground when day begun,
He sucked water so pure
Into his gill, secure
Between his jaws and skull,
Notched and beautiful
In its design so fine
Like architecture divine.
Through his spiracle bright
His mouth filled with sight
Of water, and the gold
Of oxygen, so old
Yet rich beyond all measure
Like some sacred treasure
Built through millennia long
By Saya's daughters' song.
Through his gills the flow
Of hematic maidens go,
Carrying oxygen sweet
To make his life complete.
To all his subjects they
Would carry, night and day,
The breath of life so pure
That would always endure.
And to the brain they went
Through spiracle, well-sent
To bring much more to eyes
Beneath the starry skies
And brain that ruled his form
Through calm and raging storm
With wisdom and with might
Both day and through the night.
In opposition's way
And countercurrent's play,
The blood took oxygen
Like wise and faithful men
Who know the secret art
Of playing their true part
In life's eternal dance
Of every circumstance.
When Devon moved his frame
Through waters without shame,
He opened his mouth wide
And let the water glide
Freely over and through
His gills, so tried and true,
With current's gentle flow
That helped his body grow.
When he found food to eat
To make his life complete,
He cleaved it with his jaw
According to the law
Of predatory might
That filled the world with sight
Of what the strong can do
When they are tried and true.
And behind his teeth bright
That gleamed like morning light,
His jaws would follow through
And chew what he could chew.
Down in his stomach deep
Where acids always keep
Their vigil through the night,
Food was purified bright.
Pancreas and gallbladder
Joined like faithful gladder
Partners in the art
Of playing their true part.
And intestine spiraling
Beyond all parallel-ing
In numbers without end
Would help his form transcend
Its limits, and nutrition
Would enter, transmission
Into his veins so bright
That carried day and night
His portal vein would bring
Life's most essential thing:
Fats and sugars sweet,
Proteins complete,
Phosphorus and metals
That settled like petals
Of life within his form,
Through calm and raging storm.
And vitamins so pure
That would always endure
Throughout his living days
In their life-giving ways.
And his liver would clean
His blood, and always keen
To purify and bless
What others would caress
With poison or with harm
That might his spirit harm,
His liver worked each day
To keep death's touch away.
The kidneys emptied in
All waste, and without sin
They filtered what was pure
From what could not endure.
And out the cloaca
Went waste, and none could mock-a
The wisdom of design
That was so fine.
When Devon married fair
His wife beyond compare,
He released his sperm bright
Into her loving sight.
Out the cloaca's door
To her eggs, and what's more,
From his million children
Two would be the risen:
Llŷr and Stennisio,
Both glorious
In their appointed ways
Throughout their living days.
The sons of Stennisio
Lived in ratio
Across the seafloor wide
With ocean as their guide.
Eating clams each day
In their ancient way,
They lived lives of the deep
Where ocean secrets keep.
Llŷr begat Bran so strong
Who lived his whole life long
In wisdom and in might
Both day and through the night.
Bran begat Caradoc,
Solid as a rock
In all his noble ways
Throughout his living days.
Caradoc begat three:
Cynan of the sea,
Acantho, strong and true,
And Sudopedal too.
The daughters of Acantho
Were beautiful, and so
They filled the world with grace
In every watery place.
Cynan begat Cadwr,
Who'd be the withdrawer
Of none from their true course
But guide with gentle force.
Cadwr begat Eudaf,
Who never would laugh
At those who tried their best
To pass each mortal test.
Eudaf begat Morfawr,
Whose name means "great war"
But he was man of peace
Where all strife would cease.
Morfawr begat two sons:
Tudwal when day begun
And Rhineheart the strong
Who lived his whole life long.
Rhineheart lived upon
The Rhine when day begun,
Flattened and hidden well
Like some secret spell.
Invisible was he
To those who couldn't see
The wisdom of his way
Throughout each passing day.
Like ray before rays came
To win their lasting fame,
He lived his hidden life
Without much joy or strife.
Tudwal begat two more:
Cynfawr to explore
And Antiarchon wild
Who was rebellion's child.
Antiarchon rebelled
Against all that was held
As truth by ancestors
And other predecessors.
He stood against Archons—
An Anarchist who spawns
Revolution in his heart
To play rebellion's part.
He lived beneath the soil
And waited there to spoil
The plans of those above
Who knew not how to love.
For prey he'd always wait
To seal their mortal fate
With ambush from below
Where none would ever go
To look for him or find
His revolutionary mind
That plotted every day
To make his enemies pay.
The sons of Antiarchon
Would form great bands upon
The earth, guerrillas all
Who'd answer freedom's call.
They'd haunt the sons of bright
Animus day and night
Until the world was free
From their authority.
But Cynfawr chose instead
A path where he was led
By dreams of finding home
Wherever he would roam.
Custennin was his son
Who when his search begun
Would travel far and wide
With hope as his guide.
He searched through every land
Until he'd understand
Where he was meant to be
For all eternity.
And finally he found
Upon the fertile ground
Of China, far away,
His home where he could stay.
Custennin begat two:
Uther, tried and true,
And Petallon so bright
Who filled the world with sight.
Uther begat then
Two children beyond ken:
Arthur and Maxil strong
Who lived their whole life long.
Arthur bore in time
A son and daughter fine:
Arthur the Younger, who'd
Do more than others could,
And Ptycho, maiden fair
Beyond all compare
In beauty and in grace
Throughout her dwelling place.
The daughters of fair Ptycho
Were numerous, and so
Among them was one great:
Mary, whose fate
Would be to bear a son
When her work was done
That none had done before
From mountain peak to shore.
Mary, Mother of
Icthys, blessed with love
From heaven high above,
Bore placenta's shove
Millions of years before
Any others wore
This gift of nurturing
That motherhood would bring.
The sons of Arthur then
(The Younger) beyond ken
Became known far and wide
As those who'd be the guide
Of Arthrodires' line
With characteristics fine
Throughout the world so vast
From first unto the last.
Arthur the Younger bore
Three sons to explore
The world with different eyes:
Mordred, who'd comprise
Rebellion in his heart,
And Wuttago's part,
And Actino the bright
Who filled the world with sight.
Mordred turned against
His father, and he fenced
With honor's sacred code
Upon dishonor's road.
He bore two sons in time:
Philip, so prime
In all his evil ways,
And Melehan's days
Of darkness and of shame
That blackened his name
Throughout the world entire
With corruption's fire.
Melehan begat two:
Brachy, tried and true
In evil's darkest art,
And Phlyctae's part.
The sons of Brachy ruled
The world, and they schooled
All others in their might,
Overthrowing the sight
Of Silur's ancient line
That once was so divine
But now would have to yield
To Brachy's battlefield.
Brachy begat three:
Eubar of the sea,
Buchan, strong and wild,
And Homosteus' child.
Eubar begat two:
Pachos, tried and true,
And Coccos, who would be
Living by the sea.
Pachos begat then
Two children beyond ken:
Dunkella, who would grow
Greater than we know
Any had before
From mountain peak to shore,
And Aspino the bright
Who filled the world with sight.
Dunkella grew to be
Greatest yet to see
Among all Metazo:
Six meters high to show
Her power and her might—
Three Jaekelopterii bright
In length, and though not long
As Cameroceras strong,
She had a thousand times
His men in war's rhymes
And ruled with iron hand
Throughout the entire land.
The sons and daughters all
Of Pachos heard the call
To greatness, and they grew
Strong and powerful too.
They ruled the world entire
In that age of fire
When power was the law
That all the world saw.
But Maxil, Arthur's brother,
Bore a child like no other:
Qilinyu was his name,
Who'd win eternal fame.
Qilinyu begat
Entelognathus, begat
With jaw that was complete
From head down to feet.
Entelognathus bore
Janusicthus to explore
The world with newer art
That set his line apart.
Janusicthus brought
His teeth as none had thought
From gills unto his jaw
According to new law.
And so his jaw crushed down
With teeth of great renown—
Not bone, but teeth so bright
That gleamed like morning light.
He brought his skull inside
His head, and there to bide
The nerves would always dwell
That served his body well.
Sensing all around
His form, without a sound
He knew what others felt
When danger near them dwelt.
He became the sire
Of all who'd aspire
To be both fish and beast
From greatest unto least.
From Devon's city great
To Janusicthus' fate
That led to fish and more,
The tale from shore to shore
Shows how innovation's art
Can play the vital part
In making life evolve
And every problem solve
That stands upon the way
Of progress every day
From simple unto complex
In life's eternal specs.
From gill to lung to jaw
That follows newer law,
Each change that life would make
Was for survival's sake.
But also shows how some
Will choose what they become
Through violence and through greed
That plants destruction's seed.
While others choose the way
Of peace from day to day
And building something new
That's beautiful and true.
From Antiarchon's revolt
Against the lightning bolt
Of tyranny and power
In that ancient hour,
To Mary's gift of love
Blessed from above
That nurtured life within
Her womb, free from sin,
The lineages show how
We must choose here and now
What kind of world we'll make
For all our children's sake.
The Devonian age
Wrote upon history's page
The story of the choice
Between two different voice:
The voice of those who'd build
And those who'd never yield
To others' right to live
But only take, not give.
From Devon's peaceful ways
Throughout his living days
To Brachy's iron rule
That made the world his tool,
The lesson's clear to see:
We choose what we will be
And what our children learn
As time's great pages turn.
The fish that Janusicthus made
Will never ever fade
From this world's waters bright
But swim throughout the night
And day with teeth and jaw
That follow nature's law
But also serve the good
As all creation should.
From Devon's spiracle
To Dunkella's miracle
Of size and power great,
The vertebrates' fate
Shows how life finds its way
From night into the day
Of possibility
For all eternity.
The Devonian dawn
When old forms were withdrawn
And newer forms took place
In evolution's race
Was built by those who dared
To dream and who cared
For more than what they were
And what they could confer
Upon the world around
Where they could be found
Living day by day
In their chosen way.
From Devon's city bright
To fish with tooth and sight,
The age shows what can grow
When we let courage flow
Through every choice we make
For all our children's sake
Who'll inherit what we build
In the fields we've tilled
With love or hate or fear
Throughout each passing year
Of our brief time on earth
Where we show our worth
By what we choose to do
For me and you
And every living thing
That answers life's ring.
The Devonian age began
With more than mortal plan
To make the world more bright
With love's eternal light
That shines in every heart
That plays the loving part
In life's eternal song
That makes the weak grow strong.
From Devon's peaceful reign
To Brachy's war-torn stain
Upon the world's bright face,
The lesson and the grace
Of choice is clear to see:
We are what we choose to be
And what we choose to leave
For those who still believe
In possibility
Through all eternity
Where love will find a way
To light each darkening day
With hope that never dies
Beneath the starry skies
Where all our dreams can grow
If we will let them flow
From hearts that dare to care
For life everywhere
That grows beneath the sun
Until all time is done.