{"id":6143,"date":"2025-01-16T12:18:54","date_gmt":"2025-01-16T12:18:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/writersrebel.com\/?p=6143"},"modified":"2025-01-16T15:25:16","modified_gmt":"2025-01-16T15:25:16","slug":"a-young-god-grows-a-cosmos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/writersrebel.com\/a-young-god-grows-a-cosmos\/","title":{"rendered":"A Young God Grows a Cosmos<\/span>Craig Smith<\/span>"},"content":{"rendered":"

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

11. The young god recalls what happened to her people<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I was not affected
\nyet I was scared.
\nAnd it was new to me
\nyet I\u2019d been there before.
\nIt triggered memories.<\/p>\n

Empires rise. Empires fall.
\nAs it is on earth, so it was with the gods:
\neven in the heavens, wisdom is rare.<\/p>\n

I had been made enemy for declaring
\nthe gods had a duty of care
\nfor the Universe.
\nI watched my counterparts
\nstrip-mine our civilization
\nuntil there was nothing left to breathe.<\/p>\n

We were the culture that ate our own land,
\npoisoned our own water, shat our own bed.
\nWe were pollution and pestilence.
\nWe hurt each other. We hurt our own.<\/p>\n

We ignored the emissions that choked us,
\nthe particles trapping the sunlight,
\nthe tides that engulfed us,
\nthe contaminants closing in
\nlike a movie monster.<\/p>\n

We spent our invention
\non novelty and convenience,
\nwhen our future required us to focus
\non the threats that beset us.<\/p>\n

Our brains were swamped
\nby the Industries of Greed.
\nEvil fought dirty, played loose with the truth,
\npaid useful fools to fight its battles,
\ndestroyed before losing out
\nor allowing anyone to undermine their profit.<\/p>\n

And now I watched a copy-cat disaster:
\na sentient life-form inheriting
\nthe perfect balance of oxygen, sun, and water,
\nthe miracle of natural selection,
\nthe lightning that caused the miracle spark,
\nand spaffing it on the greedy.<\/p>\n

The Earth is not a toy the gods replace
\nwhen smashed in a fit of temper.
\nThis world cannot be replaced.
\nThis is an apocalypse, not of gods –
\nthey always blame the gods –
\nbut of humanity,
\nunable to withstand the autocrat\u2019s scam.<\/p>\n

But it was a losing battle: <brversus greed by the barrel.
\nA people beholden to moral-less men
\nwho didn\u2019t care if the planet boiled over
\nif they profited from the disaster.
\nThe Titans of Hate, the Lobbyists for Ecocide,
\nthe Shills of the Greederati,
\nthe Apologists for Extreme Heat,
\nfor Extreme Humidity,
\nfor Hurricane, Fire, Drought and Flood
\nand Infinite, Intimate Death
\nHow else to put it
\nbut they are the enemy?<\/p>\n

The noise got wilder, the stink stronger,
\nof a greater poison.<\/p>\n

And then,
\nSilence\u2026<\/p>\n

12. The young god finds reason to hope<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Let me be clear: I don\u2019t want to be alone.
\nI passed millennia longing for company,
\nfor some species that resembled humanity
\nto lift itself from nothingness
\nto court my attention:
\nI\u2019m not ready to let it go.
\nI amused myself with lightshows
\nand cosmic fireworks,
\nbut they were nothing compared
\nto the companionship
\nof the human race.<\/p>\n

So many times the thread might have failed
\nor devolved to protozoa.
\nSo many times the bloodlines floundered
\nbut kept on evolving.
\nLife proved stronger than any virus or meteorite.
\nIt fought to maintain its momentum
\nin the face of every contention
\nand found a way to carry on.<\/p>\n

But it came across a scourge
\nit could not counter,
\na war it could not win:
\navarice, greed, self-regard, spite,
\nthe gaming of the system to increase
\nthe repositories of the wealthy
\nwithout accounting for the cost
\nto the planet and its people.<\/p>\n

I know how nothingness occurs.
\nI have seen it, my friends, with my own two eyes,
\nwitnessed my confederates lay waste to our lands
\nwhile asserting their right to destroy it.
\nBefore my eyes, before my very eyes,
\nthey stripped the cupboard bare
\nand, with their pockets full,
\ncomplained there was no more left to take
\nas they choked upon their greed\u2019s detritus.<\/p>\n

I begged them but was powerless.
\nAnd now I was watching it again.
\nOh, my good people,
\nwhy do we let these madmen have their way?<\/p>\n

I hung my head, prepared to revisit
\nthe despondency of my days,
\nbut other voices caught me.
\nOther visions rolled around the Cosmos.<\/p>\n

Voices of honesty and decency,
\ndrowned out, sometimes, by the Preachers of Greed,
\nyet the message from these young votaries
\ncarried long and deep into the stratosphere.
\nThe story they told – are telling –
\nis compelling because it embodies the truth,
\nand is the one thing that can save Humanity.<\/p>\n

Friday strikers, taking placards to school
\ninstead of school books;
\nschool ecologists, teaching a generation
\nthat earth\u2019s resources are finite.<\/p>\n

Green politicians making ecocide a crime,
\nthough they are patronized, pilloried or mocked;
\nindigenous people facing down corporate malfeasance,
\nthough their lives are threatened
\nby the razers of the rainforest.<\/p>\n

Scientists scrapping for science beneath a deluge of FUD;
\noceanographers, grieving the decimation
\nof the trenches, reefs and sea-beds,
\nyet plotting the regrowth of marine life;
\nrewilders, getting out of nature\u2019s way, letting it breathe.<\/p>\n

Seed bankers, preparing
\nto re-boot nature\u2019s infrastructure
\nshould the worst come to the worst,
\nand organic farmers, guerrilla gardeners,
\nallotmenteers with their hands in the soil,
\nnurturing the pollinators
\nand ecosystems of the backyard.<\/p>\n

Constructors of solar cells, wind turbines,
\nwaterwheels, desalinators,
\nhydrogen farmers, battery innovators:
\nconjuring energy and water from innovation
\nand proofing tools for a saner future.<\/p>\n

Investigative reporters unpacking lies
\nand fleshing out facts though besieged by trolls;
\ndemocratic papers, on a budget
\nbut documenting the truth as they see it,
\nawake to cruelty and injustice,
\nto the harm done to the planet,
\nand making the connection
\nbetween human rights, democracy,
\ndecency, and a sustainable future.<\/p>\n

Their behaviour sustains me.<\/p>\n

Nature will return.
\nThe holistics of water falling on the hills,
\nrunning through the peat
\ninto the lakes into the rivers into the sea
\ncan still be with us if we act.
\nAnimals will thrive if we adapt.
\nCatch it early and a viable future awaits.
\nMaybe not perfect,
\nnot with every creature still intact,
\nnot with every soul dragged free of the maelstrom,
\nbut a future for humans and nature.<\/p>\n

Kindness is the yardstick of humanity,
\nthe subtext of every faith
\nthat broadcast its message to the populous,
\nthe teaching to every child
\nin every sitting room in the world,
\nevery book, every moral fable,
\nevery fairy tale, every classroom.
\nEvery sane system of governance.
\nGoodness will out
\nand evil brought to book.<\/p>\n

On a lone planet, spinning frantically
\nagainst a backdrop of nothingness,
\nthe ones who fight for Life to carry on
\nare up against it,
\nbut they give me hope.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Craig Smith<\/strong> is a novelist and poet from Huddersfield. He was a winner of Poetry Archive Now WordWise 2022, was cited as a rising star in the 2023 LISP Anthology, and was long-listed for the Brotherton Poetry Prize 2024. He obtained a Masters in Creative Writing from Birkbeck.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    11. The young god recalls what happened to her people   I was not affected yet I was scared. And it was new to me yet I\u2019d been there before. It triggered memories. Empires rise. Empires fall. As it is on earth, so it was with the gods: even in the heavens, wisdom […]<\/p>\n

Read More… from A Young God Grows a Cosmos<\/span>Craig Smith<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":6146,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4,1],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nA Young God Grows a Cosmos - Writers Rebel<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/writersrebel.com\/a-young-god-grows-a-cosmos\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A Young God Grows a Cosmos - Writers Rebel\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"    11. The young god recalls what happened to her people   I was not affected yet I was scared. And it was new to me yet I\u2019d been there before. It triggered memories. Empires rise. Empires fall. As it is on earth, so it was with the gods: even in the heavens, wisdom [...]Read More... from A Young God Grows a CosmosCraig Smith\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/writersrebel.com\/a-young-god-grows-a-cosmos\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Writers Rebel\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/writersrebel\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-01-16T12:18:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-01-16T15:25:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/writersrebel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Craig-Smith.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"611\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Toby Litt\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@XrRebel\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@XrRebel\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Toby Litt\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/writersrebel.com\/a-young-god-grows-a-cosmos\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/writersrebel.com\/a-young-god-grows-a-cosmos\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Toby Litt\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/writersrebel.com\/#\/schema\/person\/ffdc0f394952db97247b5b86a5926695\"},\"headline\":\"A Young God Grows a CosmosCraig Smith\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-01-16T12:18:54+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-01-16T15:25:16+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/writersrebel.com\/a-young-god-grows-a-cosmos\/\"},\"wordCount\":1102,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/writersrebel.com\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"read\",\"Uncategorized\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/writersrebel.com\/a-young-god-grows-a-cosmos\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/writersrebel.com\/a-young-god-grows-a-cosmos\/\",\"name\":\"A Young God Grows a Cosmos - Writers Rebel\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/writersrebel.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2025-01-16T12:18:54+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-01-16T15:25:16+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/writersrebel.com\/a-young-god-grows-a-cosmos\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/writersrebel.com\/a-young-god-grows-a-cosmos\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/writersrebel.com\/a-young-god-grows-a-cosmos\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/writersrebel.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"A Young God Grows a Cosmos\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/writersrebel.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/writersrebel.com\/\",\"name\":\"Writers Rebel\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/writersrebel.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/writersrebel.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/writersrebel.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Writers Rebel\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/writersrebel.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/writersrebel.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/writersrebel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/WhatsApp-Image-2020-07-21-at-2.25.35-PM.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/writersrebel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/WhatsApp-Image-2020-07-21-at-2.25.35-PM.jpg\",\"width\":300,\"height\":137,\"caption\":\"Writers Rebel\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/writersrebel.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/writersrebel\/\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/XrRebel\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/writersrebel.com\/#\/schema\/person\/ffdc0f394952db97247b5b86a5926695\",\"name\":\"Toby Litt\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/www.tobylitt.com\"],\"url\":\"#molongui-disabled-link\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"A Young God Grows a Cosmos - Writers Rebel","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/writersrebel.com\/a-young-god-grows-a-cosmos\/","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"A Young God Grows a Cosmos - Writers Rebel","og_description":"    11. The young god recalls what happened to her people   I was not affected yet I was scared. And it was new to me yet I\u2019d been there before. It triggered memories. Empires rise. Empires fall. As it is on earth, so it was with the gods: even in the heavens, wisdom [...]Read More... from A Young God Grows a CosmosCraig Smith","og_url":"https:\/\/writersrebel.com\/a-young-god-grows-a-cosmos\/","og_site_name":"Writers Rebel","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/writersrebel\/","article_published_time":"2025-01-16T12:18:54+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-01-16T15:25:16+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":611,"url":"http:\/\/writersrebel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Craig-Smith.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Toby Litt","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@XrRebel","twitter_site":"@XrRebel","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Toby Litt","Estimated reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/writersrebel.com\/a-young-god-grows-a-cosmos\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/writersrebel.com\/a-young-god-grows-a-cosmos\/"},"author":{"name":"Toby Litt","@id":"https:\/\/writersrebel.com\/#\/schema\/person\/ffdc0f394952db97247b5b86a5926695"},"headline":"A Young God Grows a CosmosCraig Smith","datePublished":"2025-01-16T12:18:54+00:00","dateModified":"2025-01-16T15:25:16+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/writersrebel.com\/a-young-god-grows-a-cosmos\/"},"wordCount":1102,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/writersrebel.com\/#organization"},"articleSection":["read","Uncategorized"],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/writersrebel.com\/a-young-god-grows-a-cosmos\/","url":"https:\/\/writersrebel.com\/a-young-god-grows-a-cosmos\/","name":"A Young God Grows a Cosmos - Writers Rebel","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/writersrebel.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2025-01-16T12:18:54+00:00","dateModified":"2025-01-16T15:25:16+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/writersrebel.com\/a-young-god-grows-a-cosmos\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/writersrebel.com\/a-young-god-grows-a-cosmos\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/writersrebel.com\/a-young-god-grows-a-cosmos\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/writersrebel.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"A Young God Grows a Cosmos"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/writersrebel.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/writersrebel.com\/","name":"Writers Rebel","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/writersrebel.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/writersrebel.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/writersrebel.com\/#organization","name":"Writers Rebel","url":"https:\/\/writersrebel.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/writersrebel.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/writersrebel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/WhatsApp-Image-2020-07-21-at-2.25.35-PM.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/writersrebel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/WhatsApp-Image-2020-07-21-at-2.25.35-PM.jpg","width":300,"height":137,"caption":"Writers Rebel"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/writersrebel.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/writersrebel\/","https:\/\/twitter.com\/XrRebel"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/writersrebel.com\/#\/schema\/person\/ffdc0f394952db97247b5b86a5926695","name":"Toby Litt","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.tobylitt.com"],"url":"#molongui-disabled-link"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/writersrebel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Craig-Smith.jpg?fit=1200%2C611&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/writersrebel.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6143"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/writersrebel.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/writersrebel.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/writersrebel.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/writersrebel.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6143"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/writersrebel.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6143\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6149,"href":"https:\/\/writersrebel.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6143\/revisions\/6149"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/writersrebel.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6146"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/writersrebel.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6143"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/writersrebel.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6143"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/writersrebel.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6143"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}