Stardust

When all the cosmos

Fit in a teaspoon

And the deep cold of space

Was not yet dreamed

There was dust.

---

As whirling bodies

Condensed and collided

And the first sparks of brilliance

Were kindled in starry cores

There was dust.

---

When our feeble ancestors

Stumbled onto dry land

And tentatively tasted the air we breathe

For the first time

There was dust.

---

While babies wail

And soldiers perish

And seedlings sprout

And diplomats argue

There is dust.

---

And when our sun goes out

And the miracle that sustains us

ends

And we collapse, once more,

Into eternity

There will be dust.

---

All that we are will go

But in the meantime

We are able to speak of dust.

Therefore live strongly, for

There will always be

stardust.