Blank Pages - Dark Ages Poem by Juana Cruz

Should writers ever cease writing
Lay down their quills and their inks
Keep epics, prose, and poems hidden
In their heads where no one sees,
What would happen to us readers
If we had nothing to read?

If all printers came to a halt
Its workers all gone on strike
Would people follow by default?
Much like under the Third Reich?

There would be no need for blotters
Erasers, blackboards, or chalk
Our bliss would never be shattered
Ignorance would grow and grow.

The world would be dreadfully bleak
If men had nothing to read
Each would think they are alone
And no one feels as they feel.

Absent any way to bring
His ideas to the Steeple
Luther's ninety-five theses
Never would have brought a change and
The Vatican would still sell
Indulgences to poor people.

I pray and hope it won't happen
Though as this world turns, who knows?
But as long as men have their thoughts
Their ideas and their pens
Surely till the very end
There will be poetry and prose.