peace through austerity

In what future will they muse on these
collapsing new structures as the aztecs
did in wonder and proclaim that surely
teotihuacan was built by giants,
by titans damned for their vanity
whose voices and hands can still be felt
in the land that once entrapped them.

What inscription will they find
in empty telephone wires,
and discarded children's toys
and empty graveyards.
If printed word survives,
inscribed upon our temples
of industry and science,
let them be these-

Steel promises strength
and a better future
concrete promises
harmony, and security
glass promises clarity,
enlightenment, and
boundless horizons.

All in harmonious balance,
promise to bring peace
and refuge to the world.