An Ersatz Epoch

Tube lights imitate the pallor of the sun's rays
at noon- white, violent, illuminating
Lamps replicate the lighting at dusk,
as the sun gradually dips
below the horizon-
a soft orange glow, mildly red,
a cozy, welcoming gleam
Night lights offer us as much comfort
as the twinkling stars do at night-
not enough to awaken us,
but enough to comfort us-
mild and unobtrusive
but reassuring all the same,
for they remind us that light and darkness can coexist
and still create beauty
Soft, carpeted floors-
akin to the soothing texture of grass
that we rarely have the pleasure to experience
when they tickle the soles of our feet
The marble floors of homes
remind us of the unforgiving solidity
of the earth's crust
Four walls confine us,
just as the walls of the earth,
the enclosure of our galaxy,
of the universe, do-
limiting us, keeping us unknowingly imprisoned,
for they seem to give us all that the earth can, and more-
serenity, security, a sense of home
We live in an artificial world,
a smaller version of the real one
And on the earth exists millions and millions
of artificial homes
while the real world- the original- the beginning
sinks down into neglect