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First Age
I was there you know
so were you
along with everything in the universe
when it all began
I know they say it is not possible
we were squeezed in an area
less than the size of an atom
though we may never prove it
it makes sense that the previous universe
crunched at its end into the
same pit and expanded into ours
in the same fraction of a nanosecond
while it happened simultaneously
it also had to be sequential
not for you or me to comprehend
it must have been an unhappy one
it’s usually the sourpuss
that disrupts harmony
who interrupted our singularity
that had held forever
hiccupped
a universe
expanded to its ends
this was the first age of man
without which there would be no us
some prefer to posit
we had been there forever
they really do mean forever
not just a figure of speech
Second Age
our second age
began in less than
an Earth-time second
completed its task
in the time it would take you
to count to one hundred and twenty
content before time
we could not waste it
it was a wondrous sight
with no one to see it
granting Planck
believes he described it
it was so hot the universe expanded
into empty space
so fast light had to catch up
gravity wiggled loose
as we cooled and expanded
the electroweak and strong nuclear force
found themselves
quarks, leptons, bosons
such crazy names for particles
and antimatter siblings along with dark matter
made up a primordial soup
matter and antimatter were
continuously and simultaneously created
annihilated and recreated
quarks found partners
making heavy particles (later called hadrons)
every billion annihilations
left a billion photons and a single hadron
it was the lone hadron who’d play
a large part of man’s next age
as the temperatures dropped
drastically
protons fused with other protons
and with neutrons
giving birth to our universe
made up of nine hydrogens to one helium
and tiny amounts of other components.
Third Age
not much happens in our teen years
even though the turmoil is
so intense we remember those years
as the longest
even the most influential
our third age began as a primordial soup
of gamma rays
joyfully floating with
barely a concern
plenty of energy
for spontaneous creation everywhere
as particles were created
annihilated and
recreated faster than
a blink
it took 380,000 Earth years
to spread and cool
to figure out
what it wanted to be
many atoms
floating aimlessly about
maybe wanting to overcome the sense of alone
sought to unite
in time (I remind you this was before time)
making fiery balls
that sucked in everything within a light-year or two
we get ahead of ourselves
for star-making did not happen
until well into our fourth age
with temperatures so hot
electrons roamed free
batting photons to and fro
in the greatest sport ever
all good things come to an end
in this case quite abruptly
when the temperature of the universe
dropped to about one-half the temperature
of our future sun
electrons found themselves
now orbiting around nuclei
trapped for eternity
the silver lining being the formation of atoms
that made you and me possible
on a more immediate term
supplied the stuff that stars and galaxies
are made of
Fourth Age
the task before us
was not so simple.
taking a billion years to come of age
and another seven billion years
to fulfill its promise
our fourth age took about ninety-nine
million years just to get started
speeding away from our singularity
we slowed and cooled enough for
the power of gravity to pull free floating
atoms toward each other until
numbers so big I can’t count them
formed clouds
cooled enough to collapse into a fiery ball
billions of times smaller than its mother cloud
the first star
once formed
multi-zillions imitated it
atoms clinging together
in zillions of clusters made
by billons of fiery balls
of hydrogen helium and a speck of lithium
working together in one galaxy after another
to form a universe
so vast it is unthinkable
there is no wonder
that the fourth age
was the longest
so many atoms
floating randomly about
as if aimless but
frantically
seeking to unite
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Fifth Age
since this ode is about man
not the universe,
to tell the fifth age we must head
on over to an obscure star system that is
part of a spur known by some as Orion
on the edge of an ordinary galaxy
eight billion years or so
after the first star formed
or a little more than four and a half billion years ago
you and I along with a lot of other
neighbors came together
until there was enough of us
to light up the sky
seeing how hot our center was
you and I joined with a smaller
group to make a
tiny rock big enough
to be attracted to our star
small enough to avoid a crash
close enough not to freeze
a completely common event
took place undetected
our tiny rock
fell in place third in line
orbiting
behind Venus and Mercury
until we slowed enough to
head back toward the sun
picking up speed that thrust us past
never making it
or freeing ourselves from her attraction
revolving ever since
not too hot or too cold
we got a kick start
causing us to spin making night and day
temperatures erratic enough
to produce precipitation
some stayed to make oceans
some rose to make clouds when the sun was too hot
shading the rock as long as it could
until the changing winds and temperatures said clouds
time to become rain
the rain then forming clouds to make more rain
unrestrained
the rock rotated to the right
if you faced north
and revolved about the sun
time the succession of events became possible
to be clear both our little star
and its many satellites including the rock
you and I call home
came about very late in the game
with a fellow planet in our own galaxy
being about three times older
the making of planets being
step one to make life
if there were no life would
it be possible
to appreciate the wonder of
our universe or this poem
to be sure
there are more planets than suns
older than we
life steaming on many
our little rock
with its water everywhere
and sunshine to spare
took hardly a moment
to usher in the sixth age of man
the changes were so subtle
no one noticed until
one of them who had evolved a brain
invented language
like us various size bodies
circling the closest sun
those who preferred fewer neighbors
formed comets and asteroids
while the more social types opted
to fall into a planet
while this age of man
continues into the future
something momentous happened
over the past billions of years
our balls of fire
were attracting rocks
capable of life
let’s call this
the age of solar making
Sixth Age
the sixth age of man began
inconspicuously in
less than a billion years
it took about four billion years to be noticed
far down in the ocean that the rain had formed
prokaryotes began to twitch and swarm
missing genes they could not know they had
started creating something different each
time an offspring they made
it took many zillion births
over four billion years
to make the seven million species
that roam the rock today
for this rather short time
the changes were so subtle
no one noticed until
one made up language
only because our poem focuses on man
we will call this rather minor change
that took place in an obscure galaxy
on a tiny rock
god could not find if he wanted
to bother to look for it
age six.
Seventh Age
We have barely begun the seventh age of man.
Just a flash in our tale.
Although a bit longer than
Ages one, two, and three
Combined.
We cannot compare, for little has happened
Since the first life sign that
Can be legitimately categorized by
The meanest biologist
As human.
All the same, we will give age seven
Extra lines beyond what it’s earned.
After all, we called our poem
The Seven Ages of Man.
Our subject arrived as an odd collection of cells
Barely a blink ago.
A feeble fellow,
Should not have survived,
Learned early on
To cooperate around a shaman and
A gaggle of chieftains,
Splitting up before some
Could oppress others.
That worked rather well
For a couple of million turns around the sun.
A breath ago, they discovered
Language,
Death,
Agriculture,
Planting seeds
And domesticating animals.
In less than a sneeze,
They made up silly stories
Like they were the center of the universe,
And, hang on now,
One of their gods created the universe and had a son
Who was of them.
The beast with brain and language
Made music,
Invented gods and God, drew paintings everywhere,
Danced with and for his fellow species.
Not satisfied with having fun,
Making art and babies,
Surviving others’ love,
He struggled to make
Weapons, murder, and war,
Digging deep to find the loathing.
We end our little tale of
The Seven Ages of Man,
Not so sure
Any will survive the current age,
Let alone usher in age eight,
Though it seems another age is in the works.
That is the way of things.
On Earth, eras seem to come
More by accident than design.
There’s not much more to say.
The seventh age of man
Has just begun.
Man’s change from the first mother
is not much.
We are still waiting
to see if
Earthlings develop into something
worthy of a poem.
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