ASH TO CLAY: Myths in the Debris

I. BLOSSOMS FROM THE WRECKAGE

	Can blossoms burst from civilization’s rot 
	or bright petals pry through ruins we forgot?
	Can composted kingdoms, crumbled crown by crown,
	feed the roots of new flowers while old cultures drown?

	Can ruddy blooms rip through the sealed crypts of deceit,
	as their roots weave under poisoned streets?
	Can fresh tendrils find footholds where fallen machines
	lie rusting among the wreckage of former dreams?

	From our bloated bowels, rife with gluttony and grief,
	will our remnants sprawl across plastic-laden seas,
	only to become our final, floating elegies?

	Contemplating this, consider this:

	When the wings of time coil no longers,
	and tall towers tilt as machines cease,
	when plastic becomes pebbles 
	and petroleum is transformed into clay,
	and our cleverest inventions break down
	will we then recognize our own mutant offspring?


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from _Let the waters be my witness: Messages about our watery world_ by T Newfields
SUMMARY:   A meditation exploring whether civilization's waste and decay can birth renewal.
KEYWORDS:  cyclical transformations, historical debris, civilization and entropy, 
           decay and renewal, mythmaking and meaning, existential impermanence,
           environmental decay, regeneration, industrial waste, anthropocene, cyber-rot
           transformation, mutagenesis, eco-grief, dystopian nature, mutation, plastic ocean

Author: T Newfields [Nitta Hirou / Huáng Yuèwǔ] (b. 1955)
Begun: 2011 in Shizuoka, Japan / Finished: 2026 in Shizuoka, Japan
Creative Commons License: Attribution. {{CC-BY-4.0}} Granted

> Note: This piece was partially generated with AI tools for styling and ideation; human editing was then applied.

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ESPAÑOL   https://www.tnewfields.info/es/ceniza-arcilla1.htm
NIHONGO   https://www.tnewfields.info/jp/hai-nendo1.htm 
ZHŌNGWÉN  https://www.tnewfields.info/zh/cong-huijin1.htm