This Is You

Bear in mind, the last time
The planet warmed a bit
Quickly, domesticates,

Sedentary living,
Pottery, city walls—
All those sorts of things popped

Up—civilization,
Self congratulation.
Around Tell es-Sultan

Natufians gave way
To the Neolithic,
And you can’t say you’ve stopped

Talking about the walls
Of Jericho since then.
So what’s next? Bet against

Any simple collapse.
Those villagers huddling
Year-round, close to their kilns,

Precious pottery tech,
Coining stories about
Potters who would transform

Through demons into smiths
Making magic weapons,
Poisonous alchemists,

May not have thought they were
Beginning strange, new things
But they were. So this is.