Future Uncertainty

true myth

is one within the universe
of a certain culture
(living or dead)

that expresses
richly and
perhaps tragically

highest admirations
within
that culture

in declining civilizations

often
the old see furthest
with youngest eyes

present mentality
is a confused and
halting experiment

much is bound to happen
of which no hint
is yet discoverable

humans are essentially
a race of bright but
arrested adolescents

we conceive our relation to
the rest of the universe
as best we can

we desire
the future to
turn out happily

wishfully thinking

we desire
present
civilization

to advance
steadily
toward Utopia

that it may
decay
collapse

and all its
spiritual treasure
lost irrevocably

is repugnant to us

yet it must
be faced
as a possibility

the tragedy
of a race
must be

admitted
in any
adequate myth

the entire
enterprise
of our race

may be a minor
unsuccessful
episode

in a vaster drama

(C)2022 Raibeart Bruis