The Halls of History

Descending through millennia
In the big ditch
Geological gallery
A million years
Bypassed with every
Endless switchback
The compacted algae and
Trilobites now glorious
Monuments to extinct oceans
Towering limestone tombs
Radiating the treasured
Coral reefs of pink
And gold

Deeper still
The sage and unbreakable
Metamorphic basement
Once silent witnesses
To limp lungs emerging
From the primordial ooze
Now onlookers to
Our insignificant struggle
And breathless awe
No doubt
Mildly amused
By our toys and attempts
To encapsulate their wisdom
In a three by five
Two dimensional
Post card