Come is the time of the First Empire,
Of blue-green microbe growth and
rocky spire.
No living thing stirs actively
Within the gray and ancient sea.

Come is the time of the Sea's Empire,
Of exquisite fins and snail-shell spire.
With new eyes their world they spy
And one by one evolve or die.

Come is the time of the Land's Empire,
Of great armored bulk and green plant spire.
Stromatolites upon the shores
Looked down upon by dinosaurs.

Come is the time of Man's Empire,
Of politics and shiny metal spire.
But civil wars and civil rights
Mean nothing to stromatolites.

Come is the time of the New Empire,
Of architecture strange and crystal spire.
They now believe life's fight is won
Beneath the red and aging sun.

Come is the time of the Last Empire,
Of blue-green microbe growth and
rocky spire.
No living thing stirs actively
Within the gray and ancient sea.