Stardust Once More

isn’t this how we all started out?

tiny sparks and flecks of ash,

all floating in the dark.

there is something here,

a mysterious attraction,

a powerful force that shapes us

into physical being.

the molecules we are made of

catch fire soon enough.

yes we are burning

but the flame keeps us alive.

the planets count time but we do not

out here in an infinity,

in an ever-expanding universe

with edges that blur reality,

we do not count time

instead we count the shadows,

left behind in the places

where golden comets shot by

and diamond stars used to shimmer.

we watch the twinkling lights of night’s tapestry

as it slowly fades from existence,

a reminder that

even the brightest suns 

burn out eventually.

the galaxies have stopped spinning

and the glimmering nebulas

scattered across them

are all empty.

this is how we collapse,

how our flames finally falter

in the cold of absolute zero.

but we must fall into ourselves

before we can fly

before we are free 

to soar back into

the expanses of outer space,

a fleck of stardust once more