Ropes


Some humans took the drying grass they found
And wove together thin and fibrous strands
To make a thicker rope of build so sound
It dragged the stones too large for naked hands.

And later ropes of ever-greater length
Enabled crews to raise a giant sail
And gave our species spiders' super strength
To find no cliff or wall too steep to scale.
 
But ropes would also serve as doorless keys
To binding beasts and making rivals slaves.
Our ropes have blemished many blameless trees
And hastened countless trips to shallow graves.
 
When humans find a tool to be of use,
They quickly find a means of its abuse.
 
Paul Burgess
 
If you have any thoughts about this poem,  Paul Burgess would be pleased to hear them