Text Box: Mazo, 1999: Excerpt from "These Poems": Art and literature are the means through which a civilization expresses itself, but the degree and form to which that expression has been manifested has varied throughout the ages and from culture to culture. Prehistoric people painted stories on cave walls and crafted fertility idols from wood, stone, and other materials.  The Egyptians were master architects as well as skilled sculptors, and their hieroglyphics record their myths.  The Greeks and Romans were excellent architects, storytellers, dramatists and sculptors, and what survives of those eras is a testament to their understanding of the human form as well as their insight into the human condition.  These civilizations as they existed are no longer, yet their perpetual influence throughout the world is a testament to their greatness.  But what of the Modern Age, and when the sun sets upon our civilization and rises on the next, what shall our posterity say of us?  What insights of our world shall they glean from the rubble of our decay?  Perhaps they shall say, “…it was a time of profound technological advancement, affording for many a luxurious standard of living the world had never known; it was a time of great civil striving to end prejudice and hatred based upon the race, culture, religion or sex of others…”  Or perhaps they will say, “…despite the great technological advancements, disease, famine and war were common; and despite high ideals and visions of peace and equality espoused by leaders of the day, the mass of humanity stagnated and socially devolved into chaos.”  Perhaps there won’t be anyone left to say anything.  But if humanity does survive, the choices we make today will form the basis of their opinions tomorrow.  Contemporary art and literature is representative of who we are as a people.  It reflects our insights, our thoughts, our passions; and its content and character define us for what it is and what we would aspire to be.  There can be no doubt but that the arts are a barometer of sorts, gauging our spiritual and social evolution as individuals and as a people.  

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