Thank you to Editor Herojit Philem of Ambrosial Literary Garland for publishing my poem.

From Doltish Character to Sculptured Thought

Neolithic people with burnished skin,

letting go of the once so cumbersome hunt,

rejoicing the no longer obligated stalking of animals,

remembering times when it might have taken a week

to score well with a cloud of startled deer,

staying just slightly ahead of famine’s seduction.

The old projectile smuggler becomes the new shepherd,

trading an arrow for a staff.

From doltish character to sculptured thought.

From uncultivated plains to plain cultivated land 

ripe with barley and wheat

One important upshot

of more permanent settlements.

Man finding his artistic bent

through crafts, pottery, weaving. 

The utilized chisel and stone tools, polished, ground.

The number of new creations, and products growing

by leaps and bounds,

All left for us to find and admire,

helping us understand how civilizations grow

from doltish character to sculptured thought.