I am fascinated by fairy tales and legends, the way they once must surely have been based on real events - but over countless retellings have morphed and grown into things which today seem quite impossible. This is the latest in a series of poems called Fairy Tales of the Year 3000. In the year 3000, what will our legends and fairy tales be? Will the people hearing them believe that worlds like the one we live in now could be anything but fantasy?

"Did you know
There is a city
Under this sand"
The child's eyes fizzed
Begging her father
To expand

"Yes yes
It was bustling
And it was vibrant
A monument to people
Who ignored nature
Were defiant

It shone so bright
Beaming out
Against the night
As if our burning world itself
Was the source
Of every light"

"But if they
Were so good
Why did the pass?
Why is there
Just sand grains
And stars?"

"When people are nature
It can't be defied
They made the world unbalanced
Left it too late to fix
But couldn't rise
To the new challenge

Here the desert grew
And against nature unleashed
There wasn't anything
They could do
See that flatter part?
From a port there, they flew

But there was
Nowhere to fly to
So instead
We have had to make our peace
With nature anew
Humbled"

"Lets dig for the city!"
The child smiled
"Maybe there are solutions
Ways to make the elements less wild
Show our respect
And our regret

Maybe it's not too late"

Dave James Horn ©

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