I rise from the mud, lifting my head
On shaking legs I now stand

I lift up my hands, watching them form
Seeing my creature extant from land

Marveling now at what was born
I move a step forward, testing my weight

My footing is sound, so I take one more
I climb the banks of my origin's stay

I journey now through fields of grain
Past houses and sheds and livestock pens

I see their faces: wanton, full of pain
Laughing, I scoff, glad to not be them

But now I begin to harden and set
Now I am forced to understand

This was chosen, a cruel prerequisite
To be a pillar, forever in the sight of man

But only until the skies blacken and gray
Until the rain begins pouring down my face

Then I will fall, there I will break
Returning then to only clay