Poem – WHAT LIES BENEATH (By Ray Gallucci)

 

WHAT LIES BENEATH

 

At base of elevator shaft

Lives planet I once knew

(Preserved by technologic craft)

On which earth’s surface grew.

 

Beneath a roof of greenhouse glass

Lies planet of my birth

Supporting seven levels vast

Of Hotel Planet Earth.

 

Atop the seventh level like

The Babylon of old

Are gardens hanging lush and ripe

Directly warmed by Sol.

 

Below this Eden lies a maze

Of high-rise honeycomb

Where upwardly each mobile stays

Above translucent dome.

 

But I was born on Level One

When it was all there was,

Directly open to our sun

And wind and rain above.

 

But planet’s population swelled

Till even deserts filled.

And none beneath the oceans dwelled

Or Martian surface tilled.

 

Antarctica turned livable

Once global warming peaked,

Though gardens are not comparable

When lichens are unique.

 

With oceans risen to new heights,

Old coastlines were submerged.

So upward mankind set his sights

And towered maze emerged.

 

A resident of Level Five,

To top I often go.

But lately a nostalgic drive

Has beckoned me below.

 

To see the planet where I spent

Forgotten years of youth;

To see that still surviving friend

Or neighborhood that soothes.

 

Most live above the planet where

Our species once was born

And rarely make the trip down there.

It’s none of their concern.

 

And though consider marvelous

What planet has become,

I wake to find just dream it was –

There’s only Level One.

 

(Published in ATLANTIC PACIFIC PRESS, Winter 2012, Vol. 5, No. 4, pp. 11-12)

 

Author Bio:



I am a Professional Engineer who has been writing poetry since 1990. I am an incorrigible rhymer, tending toward the skeptical/cynical regarding daily life. I have been fortunate to have been published in poetry magazines and on-line journals such as NUTHOUSE, MOTHER EARTH INTERNATIONAL, FEELINGS/POETS’ PAPER, MÖBIUS (when Jean Hull Herman published), PABLO LENNIS, MUSE OF FIRE, SO YOUNG!, THE AARDVARK ADVENTURER, POETIC LICENSE, THUMBPRINTS, UNLIKELY STORIES, BIBLIOPHILOS, FULLOSIA PRESS, NOMAD’S CHOIR, HIDDEN OAK, PABLO LENNIS, POETSESPRESSO, SOUL FOUNTAIN, WRITER’S JOURNAL, ATLANTIC PACIFIC PRESS, DERONDA REVIEW, LYRIC, THE STORYTELLER, WRITE ON! and DANA LITERARY SOCIETY.