The Lost City

The fog rolls in on the evening

Veils the mountain

From the harsh black night

The sun's last kiss is one that lingers

An alchemist's envy

Turning humble rock to gold.

The stones are cold

Silent in their majesty

They tell no tales

Standing sentry over the mountain's secret

All that's left

Of a forgotten kingdom

It is the city's heart,

The holy sundial

That takes the mind back

A glimpse of the splendor

The beauty that thrived

Alone on the forest's backbone.

The grand celebrations

Tribute to the wonder of the sun

The music still echoes

The fog traces figures in the light

They shimmer and spin

Swaying to the miraculous rhythm of life.

What happened here?

Did greed bring down this city?

Was it bloody war,

Famine, fire, disease?

Did discovery of a forbidden love

Invoke the sun god's wrath?

Or was it a long, slow decay

Scavenged by time

Like crows on a carcass

While the forest crept in

Stealthy and determined

And the Earth continued to turn?

The answer is hidden.

There is no sign left here

Among the empty temples

No record left behind

Just moss and rain

And ghostly, golden dancers in the mist.