Empire

Consolidation
And fragmentation
Can both be brutal,

And they always take
Lives, generations,
Before they reverse.

You’re living either
Through one era or
Another right now,

And the odds are long
Against surviving
Through its reversal.

There’s maneuvering
For ascendancy
Coming and going,

And you yourself might
Be a small warlord,
Or a royal heir,

Or politician,
Or wealthy schemer,
Local or global.

Probably not, though.
Probably you’re just
Extending your life

In power’s shadow.
You’ll have some ideas
Like everyone does

On what’s going wrong,
What could be better,
Where the wickedness

Is concentrated.
You’ll have your fears, hopes,
Fierce rooting interests.

But the great structures
Of systems rising,
Consolidating

Or coming apart
Around you do not
Much resemble you.