Poem: The Corridors of Power

This came out of a title prompt by ysabetwordsmith in this weekend's crowdfunding Creative Jam. Welcome to California.

Throughout its existence,
Mankind has sought power
To do things it cannot do unaided.

Surrounded by power
Too mighty and capricious to use with intent,
Mankind has sought knowledge
Of fire, of air, of earth, of water,
To capture some of that power
In a useable form.

To transfer power and knowledge
From where it was confined
To where it can be released,
Mankind has created
Corridors of power:
Created by fire,
Spanning the air,
Tunneling through the earth,
And traveling deep under water.

We believe we have thus tamed it
And bent it to our will --
To drive our machines
And carry our messages

But those corridors
Are more fragile than they appear,
And can be bent
By powers greater than what they contain,
Until the power they carry,
Freed from its shackles,
Bursts into fire
Driven by air
Across the earth
Parched by lack of water
To consume what it once drove
As it consumes the homes and lives
Of those who once
Thought themselves its masters