after a war and a mask

After the war

There had been a war that Germany lost
a soldier found a mask made of wood 
in a basement and took it home  as a souvenir
When demobilized, he sold the mask to 
a second-hand shop, as no one knew it's
real value, he was only paid a few shillings
enough for a few pints at the local pub
The store owner put the mask on a shelf
where it lingered until an art collector saw
the mask and quickly bought it cheaply 
the store owner was glad to be rid of the
mask as it, despite being face down on
a shelf, made him shudder.
a visiting American entrepreneur bought
the mask that in the night sprung alive 
and thanked the American for rescuing him
a life on a shelf and promised to make 
He was super rich as he had been a god
of wealth in the Roman epoch.
True to his words,  the entrepreneur had 
success, whatever scheme he had, came up 
triumph, he came to be known as the
the richest man in the world, which we know
is abstract, as only those who can conquer 
death is wealthy.
Nevertheless, our cereuses set about 
creating an artificial being with super-high
intelligence yet free of soul and emotions
a construct living forever
The rich man's plan, when his time was up
 to become an AI and rule the world
a thousand years to come
The mask that hung securely on his office
the wall fell and broke in bits, and out came
slimy  maggots as telling our rich man that
only un-life lives forever