The Arrogance of Man

We forged the iron, split the sky,

Bade fire to rise, taught stones to fly.

We bent the rivers, bridged the deep,

Woke ancient powers from their sleep.

With pride we carved our names in stone,

Declared the world was ours alone.

We cast the dice, we spun the wheel,

Yet stopped too late to think or feel.

The forests burned, the oceans cried,

The winds grew sick, the meadows died.

The hands that built, the minds that dreamed,

Had loosed a force they’d never deemed.

And still we march, and still we claim

New conquests in a reckless game.

Yet wisdom whispers, soft and low:

“To rise, you first must learn to know.”