Axioms of Empire

Come now, let us rival Nature
We’ll build on banks between the rivers
Watch us wall off every danger
Save our stores from starving strangers

Let us set the price of pleasure
Catch our cut from every acre
Tally all the Earthbound treasures
For we only own what we can measure

Add a bigger buffer
Around multiplying structures
Divide them up then conquer
Such are the axioms of Empire
Ever hungrier for power
Seeking new realms to devour
Fending off the final hour
As the axe falls on the Empire

These decrees define the letters
Lines confining willful workers
All will cultivate our cultures
For only we’ll have any answers

Ordered echoes yoke the future
Designing minds to be their bearer
Wooden actors pose as rulers
On strings of plundered lucre

We face foregone foreclosure
Debt embedded in the architecture
For those who seek to be Earth’s master
Summon forth disaster even faster

Add a bigger buffer
Around multiplying structures
Divide them up then conquer
Such are the axioms of Empire
Ever hungrier for power
Seeking new realms to devour
Fending off the final hour
As the axe falls on the Empire