MENTAL IMAGE

perhaps we humans,
along with the rest of nature
and the boundless wonders thereof
were created by God.
but since then, for sure,
we have ourselves and God remade
in our own mental image

of all the things that rule our lives
there are only but a few
that neither in part nor whole,
of our own imperfect design directly derive.

our joys and desires
our health and wealth
our anxieties and fears
our woes and frustrations
our stresses and strains
most of these, we will find,
more or less, are down to us.

in our marvellous flair
we have recast the earth
solely for our own lavish whims
even sometimes at the cost
of misery and despair
to other human beings

nature we may not have altogether conquered
but, verily, we have gained some ground.

albeit all these wonderful things we have made
they are but a drop of water compared
to the ocean of ideas
and the infrastructure of cultures,
and the cacophony of languages,
and the tapestry of religions
and the jungle of superstitions,
and the infinity of mysteries
that over the ages long
our boundless imaginations have spawn,
which we carry around in our minds
from which spills wildly forth
the most amazing propensities
to create even more of the same
in stupendous quantities

for each new solution we have found
and each challenge we surmount
new problems ensue
and more issues to resolve

while some revel in their great success
(a treat usually not enjoyed for long)
others yearn for the paradise
that was the world we have since destroyed

many aspire with savage ferocity (at the cost of others' lives)
to what others have already achieved with scant delight
pursuing a fleeting mirage of perfect joy
in a futile search for the ultimate truth
what to some is success is to others defeat
when it costs a price that makes a folly of the feat