I stumbled across a sword today,
One of those long forgotten relics passed down from a bygone age.
It was rusted and worn, with broken handles and a bent form.
They taught us in history about these tools,
About the violence and the hate they spread.
They taught us of the pillages and rapes,
The conquests of armies filled with evil men.
My arm quivered as I looked in fear upon that weapon I had seized.
Its edges glinted in the light, whispering promises of riches and glory if only I would fight.
They told me in school that we live in a better world now.
A planet where no kingdoms fight or throttle necks for riches.
But peace always comes with a price,
And for us that was the billions of lives.
The bombings killed the first,
And then came the cancer.
Radiation spread like wildfire,
As the tumors grew and grew until they reached from head to toe.
Then the next pandemic,
A disaster with no clear solution,
The piles of sick bodies in the hospitals could be smelled from miles out.
By the end, more than ten billion were dead, and only our village remained.
In the mountains of Appalachia we lived in peace.
But the sins of the past came back to haunt,
With floodings and climates burning up on the spot.
We saved ourselves with a high-tech bubble,
And while the outside is a desert, our small town is packed tightly and huddled.
A quick glance outside reveals a dystopia,
But the teachers tell us that we’re better off for it.
They say that war is gone,
And humanity lives on.
They say that pain is necessary to gain.
But today, when I found that sword;
I began to wonder about a past more gold.
While outside our dome all that’s left are piles of human bones.