What need have we of the Gods?
We have conquered their domains
As they conquered the Titans.
I look about my own land
And I see the elements
Harnessed, domesticated.
Wind and sun are made lightning,
A lightning shorn of thunder,
Jewels bring it where we bid.
The earth yields rock, which is now
Transformed into fire, and fire,
Our old servant, is made tame.
Glass and sand are transformed to
Birds of prey, with wings wider
Than the ancient Sphinx is long.
And our birds, breathing rock fire,
Fly faster than sound itself
And become invisible.
Swift Hermes could not outrace
The speed of a message sent
Around the globe — by a child.
Loathsome diseases and plague,
Which once felled entire nations,
We cure with needle and pill.
If a river is needful,
There it shall be, and its
Water then made pure and sweet.
In my short days, I have seen
The air turned to brown poison,
And then made wholesome again.
The chariots of the Gods
Could not transport so many
So fast or so far as we.
This parade of miracles
Grows seeming endless; and yet,
We take it all for granted.
The shepherds of the Bronze Age
Could not have even dreamt of
Our wizardry done daily.
So we’ve no more use for tales
Of magic, gods, or demons.
Our own wonders do astound.
Knowledge of good and evil
Was called the forbidden fruit.
Yet who would not have eaten?
It’s better, I say, to know
Right from wrong, and make mistakes,
For only thus will we grow wise.
We are not masters of all,
And cannot claim power with
No limits. But truly, could Zeus?
That Titan who brought man fire
Was given eternal pain
For betraying that secret.
We should now repay the debt,
And use the gift that he gave
To set Prometheus free.
The gift he gave was knowledge,
And using it has shown us
That the Gods are obsolete.
For now is humanity’s,
Air, earth, fire, water, wind,
And even life and death, our tools.
Not yet do we grasp all for
Which we reach and desire,
But I see the day we will.
