A Lost Civilization

When the archaeologists sought the disappearance of the island people, they scoured the sacred burial grounds under the Ġgantija temples.The great discovery they found were ancient generations of skulls and bones buried several layers deep; the islander’s ancestral voices - as conch shells behind the ear - continue to echo their song across the tiny archipelago. A song that sang of journeys passing through stone-breaking valleys whilst carrying manure of sacrificial lambs to replenish the upland fields. A song that sang of carnivorous harvests upon virgin altars steeped in the blood of newborn calves - too young to graze - in a clubhouse culture kind of communion.As parent plants absorbed nutrients from the barren ground - they counted the pollen that littered the earth. Call it a drought. Call it a violent storm. This landscape is overrun by pressured populations to join the new disease.All that remains are the mollusc trails embedded as sedimentary fossils upon the ground - because a snail’s home is never too far away. The archaeologists claim this is soil management to fend off starvation - a technique thought to be unsuitable in certain environments. But in the wake of this devastation, you’ll know the resilience of the sacred ecosystem. This is food worship. A mother goddess’ violent death. This is the remnant of a dust cloud after a volcanic eruption, casting a wicked shadow over the new world order on climate change.And this is why islands are laboratories for understanding death to the world we create. And it all began with a little seed.

Author’s Note

This narrative poem was crafted using a skimmed reading of Aisling Irwin’s article published in Nautilus magazine titled “Why A Thriving Civilization in Malta Collapsed 4,000 Years Ago.” The poem was written with multiple themes in mind: life & death, abortion, human nature, and philosophical morality. Here is the link to the aforementioned article: https://nautil.us/why-a-thriving-civilization-in-malta-collapsed-4000-years-ago-8347/.

Disclaimer

Characters/events mentioned within the poem, though inspired by scientific fact and historical events, are intended for fictional and creative purposes. Nor is the material intended to propagate ill-speak of those involved based on the article prior.