Beasts That Build

[Mizuchi]

Beasts That Build

Civilization’s pillars are the hairy legs
Of a creature whose drool congeals
To glass, concrete and steel.
Even in denial it fights tooth and nail.

We strive for saint or settle for sinner,
Never content that we’re halfway there.
We fear the pleasures we can receive,
The highs we can achieve,
And construct our way around them.
Bricks and bolts and stories and pills;
Permitted indulgence though the veil is thin.

For what is order but chaos frozen in place?
Sometimes we even leak:
The thaw is always but a threshold away.
Our arenas, carved in wood, layered in law;
A limbo for the feral, and a reminder
To keep natural selection caged.

What is trade then, but ravenous?
Buy, sell, hoard, feast, starve...
Grow or be outgrown.
The system is ever vicious
But the prospect of coming out on top
Has stayed our hand from casting it down.

We are the beasts that build:
Clever architects,
Yet slaves to our senses still.

[dwells]

Well-said Miz and this was magnificently measured in a marvelous message, but we also build our own destruction as we advance sideways too. The world might shake us off like fleas someday; meanwhile we endeavor to take our mischief to the stars. Animals at heart born of conquest. Really getting into my head with this one, cheers! The hairy chest will have only the best - great title BTW!

[everhopeful]

That is quite an opening! I think it would be easy to describe some elements of this as cynical, but it's what I class as realistic cynicism, and it still speaks of opportunity resting in our hands, if only we can break from the sheep mentality and make our own way.
The penultimate stanza seems a bit anti-capitalist, but I saw it in a more analogous way to life itself, rather than just the free market system.
Poetry with a conscience, much enjoyed.

[Pipebomb Poet]

I really like the imagery and message of this poem. Very unique imagery and interesting juxtapositions.
Well done and congrats on the spotlight! :)

[potentialpoet]

I'm probably repeating myself, because I think another poem inspired the same thoughts. I find myself torn between moral outrage and neutrality. I don't see us as separate from nature. And like all of nature, we must serve some purpose. Is it our purpose to destroy (or in neutral terms, breakdown) this planet and ourselves in the process. When you weigh in the inconceivable immensity of the universe(?), whatever we do seems insignificant. Building up and breaking down are processes that aren't good or bad. Everything depends on perspective.

Your poem succeeds in generating these kinds of thoughts, in addition to also being an effective critique of our perplexing nature.

[jainrohit]

Even Before reading everhopeful's statement , i was to comment that this has a taste of marx and engles , but after reading his comment , i was damn sure .... Well , well , well , this is a wonderfully written poem. Nothing is abnormal or pessimistic in this ... for every gain there is a loss , for every progress there is a failure ... This view is nothing but a fact that some people tend to ignore ... Agree with this...Deserved spotlight ,,,Cheers

[Mizuchi]

Thank you all very much for reading! It's immensely appreciated.

I appreciate how you distilled that we can't count ourselves as separate from animals and how this is still a neutral thing at heart. Terry Pratchett beautifully called it (seriously, I wish I could come up with something like that): "To be the place where the falling angel meets the rising ape". I had half a mind to open the poem with that quote. Instead I went with the second stanza, particularly the first two lines. We are both virtuous and sinful, capable of both random acts of kindness as unjustifiable wickedness. There is no shame in admitting that.

I notice that the penultimate stanza sparked some thought. It was never really my intention to be anti-capitalist. Rather, I see capitalism as an inevitable outcome, sinusoidal fluctuations notwithstanding. It's basic game theory really: in a system with altruistic tendencies such as socialism, a handful of opportunists will prosper and may succeed in bringing the entire system down (which is essentially what happened in my communist regimes). Some people just won't settle for anything less than being on top, which I tried to squeeze in the last two lines of that stanza.

Sorry for rambling there and again, thank you for reading.