Elegy -- Machine Head

Guest poem sent in by "Toby Gray"

(Poem #1804) Elegy Elegies are to be sung Winds of Armageddon come Ignorance within your bliss Soon you will atone for this In your carcinogenic haze Baneful of a newer age Flowers of a different scent Poisons of the earths lament A requiem Earth belong not to you Belong all we to her Take another deeper breath Inhale invisible death Pollution fills the land and sky Forever you justify Take a deeper look and see Nothing's left to future seeds Icicles melt in the blood Ashes where there once was wood A requiem Earth belong not to you Belong all we to her Pain of life has pulled you under Left you there to bleed and wonder Open heart is torn asunder Wrong the wrongs that you've been suffered "Kill" we scream in roaring thunder Destroy all, leave all things plundered Acid rain cries her pain Full bloom, a world gone insane Her anger the flower Plays God with all of our lives A requiem Earth belong not to you Belong all we to her -- Machine Head

    (from the album Through the Ashes of Empires)

This is my favourite poem (well, song lyrics actually). It may not be a
masterpiece of pattern and structure, but sometimes simplicity has a power
all its own (although it's obviously better with the music to back it up).
The line "Ashes where there once was wood" never fails to move me with a
combination of anger and sadness, but the main reason I like it so much is
"Earth belong not to you, belong all we to her". I'm eternally amazed by how
many people find this simple concept so difficult to grasp.

Toby

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