by LJ Frank
the days were elusive
an Upper Paleolithic Man understood
self-esteem meant survival
unfathomable centuries after fire and crude tools arrived
he watched the others gather together
the palms of their hands faced the flame
there was no market to bear witness
to claims of ownership and pride
no coins with human images
the darkness of the human trade dwelled
in the lesser light
of those whose minds were a waterless well;
and somewhere between regard and disregard
humans drank the blood of each other’s wisdom
infused with ambiguous dogmas
as if warriors of another’s strength
only the technology changed over the centuries
to feed the insatiable appetite of conflict
and in-passing
nurture dies without an engorged breast for feeding
intellectual bestiality betrays distilled notions
for meanings inevitably dissipate
revised
and fresh metaphors are created;
still the Primitive arrived
perhaps knowing existence is in the remembrance
but enshrouded in a memory lost
for no records were kept
and no oral traditions survived
tens of thousands of years dissolved
save the artifact of bones encased in molten rock
a fragmented necklace of thorns
placed on the skull
symbolic or not
for the body of the Primitive
was never to become a sacred allegory.