The View from Planet Earth

Ah, humanity,
I watch you dance across time
stride out of Africa,
tame your landscapes,
build empires
learn to measure
infinitesimal amounts
plumb the secrets of time and space
and still,
in your heart,
you belong to those same small bands
fighting over crumbs,
exploiting
until collapse.
You yourself
you clever creature
will create
the monsters of your mythology,
and when you plummet
into the realms
where once dominant lifeforms go,
the echo of your passing
will prove the fact
that life is tenacious,
but technological intelligence
is not required.