In dusky halls forgot by time
sit men and women, poised and fine
each claims a throne with titles marked
and cries in sadness to the dark
All those who find these marbled halls
are haunted by their hollow calls:
I am the Memory of Trees
ere long scorched earth began to freeze
left charred by industry and war
now scattered ashes, nothing more
I am the Memory of Tide
ere wave was stilled and current died
These rivers, streams; now, clotted veins
to dried up seas where wasteland reigns
I am the Memory of Soil
ere ground was bathed in fire and oil
The smold'ring ash in fields of old
that flecked the world as it turned cold
I am the Memory of Light
ere mankind wrought this constant night
our darkness scattered cross the skies
where no sun sets and no bird flies
I am the Memory of Awe
ere man regressed to tooth and claw
History, artwork, culture: lost
and now, long since, we bear the cost
I am the Memory of Peace
ere silence drowned in gears and grease
The engines hum and clang and cough!
but we all die should they turn off
We are the Memory of Life
before our world was rent by strife
the Earth is still and nothing's left
while we, the damned, are cheating death
we memories, all that remain
lest man forget who wrought his shame