They turned their backs.
They looked away.
They broke the ties that bind.
Subconsciously and silently they left it all behind.
A thousand years ago or more they took a step ahead.
Their leaders tried to call them back.
They quickened pace instead.
They'd seen the blood.
They'd died in wars.
They'd counted millions dead.
The horrors of their century brought questions to their head.
Beginning with and ending with some politicians war.
They'd peak into their ruler's minds
and change forevermore.

They found a truth.
A painful fact.
They taught it to their young.
A simple rule they hoped would fuel a dream to which they clung.
That governments had magnified the failings of the soul,
had multiplied the cruelties
it promised to control.
The children heard.
They memorized.
They studied history.
Illusions slowly faded through their passing century.
They passed the knowledge on again to children of their own.
So over time, it came to be
that leaders stood alone.

The knowledge spread.
The leaders fell.
The people persevered.
The putrid scents of governments had finally disappeared.
The capitols now covered with the dust of uselessness.
Decrepit, ancient monuments
to games of world chess.
Collectively,
instinctively,
as is by single mind.
Without a cautious look ahead or mournful glance behind.
A thousand years ago or more they stepped beyond the odds,
evolving past their governments,
to goddesses and gods.