It’s a tale of two cities.

Through smoke and flame,

Ancient marble columns crumble.

Monuments of man’s achievement.

Dirt in the eye of the creator.

Fire! Frozen pillar of salt!

The toughest lesson learned

Is forgotten in a generation.

Time swallows tradition.

We haven’t lost all etiquette;

We have some sense of propriety:

Sacrifice. Bloodletting. Cannibalism.

All bestial desires!

Take heed to no call.

Follow the urge of every primal whim:

We know no sin.

We know consequence.

We relish in our destruction.

We find worth in our misfortune.

From the ruins we rise,

Emerging in broken streets,

Like shadows in daylight.

To give rebirth to--

To rewrite, the age-old boundaries