Most histories begin with the story of civilization. Before civilization was prehistory. What we know about prehistoric times is limited. But we know it covered a lot of time. If we were to compose a history book with prehistory the prologue, and if the book were done chronologically and according to scale, the history section might occupy the last hundred pages. The prologue would precede it for thousands of pages, most of them blank.

 HISTORIC TIMES – BEFORE AND AFTER 
                                (Mike Cohen – Dec 2020)

The success story of the dinosaurs
was not written. There was no one,
in prehistoric times, to write it.
For the time being, we are here;
the dinosaurs are gone.

We have had dominion now
for about 10 millennia.
The dinosaurs, long extinct,
held their dominion
for 160 millennia.
It took the unlikely tragedy
of a wayward asteroid to curtail their reign.
One way or another, they are gone.

We have dominion now.
But compared to the dinosaurs,
our dominion is fragile –
soon to be short-lived.

Fortunately, the story of our failure
will not be written. There will be no one,
in post-historic times, to write it.