Silver

I keep my eyes on the horizon. There'll soon be little else left. I curl my toes and dig them deep into the dry soil and brittle grass around me. I wish I had claws, talons, roots - anything to keep me grounded. But I don't and it's too late.

Everything falls away. I don't know why it was a surprise to us all. This is the way life is. From the moment you are born things change, move, grow, fall away.

The people of England deceive themselves when they fancy they are free; they are so, in fact, only during the election of members of parliament: for, as soon as a new one is elected, they are again in chains, and are nothing. And thus, by the use they make of their brief moments of liberty, they deserve to lose it.

Rousseau
The Social Contract
1762