Is it folly to think what we build will last,
Memorials and monuments, nations all?
The future comes for us and we become the past.
Hands held in prayer before the waves now cast,
We stand as silent witnesses beneath the storm.
On the beach I saw a thousand ships appear!
Our destiny rolling in with the rising tide.
Building empires meant to last a thousand years,
Never calling into question our foolish pride,
But we are blind to truth when held fast by fear.
Alas, we acknowledge that those who led us lied,
Promises lay broken, our fate made clear.
Those dying dreams turned to dust, year after year.
Mere monuments of our hubris before the fall,
Decency and compassion, honor all.