Take a translunary trek to a place
that's eons in time and light-years in space
from all that we know, and all we avow
and all that we like to call "here and now".
Look at the vastness of all that exists—
intricate structures of which it consists;
time inconceivable for it to form,
patterns astounding, though chaos is norm.
Consider why life is as it appears,
how it has changed over billions of years.
Adapting, evolving, so it survives;
more species are gone than now are alive.
How vain are we humans when we assume
that this little orb cannot be our tomb?
We plunder, ravage and kill all that moves,
imagining someone "out there" approves.
In prideful arrogance we make a fuss,
thinking the cosmos is all about us.
Yet we are but dust, and numbered our days;
humanity— just a transient phase.
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Author Notes
Today's word:
translunary (adj.) beyond the moon.
My much-treasured Christmas present for 2017 is a book by Paul Anthony Jones: "The cabinet of linguistic curiosities". Each page contains a descriptive story about some obscure or archaic word. It occurred to me it would be a fun exercise to try and write, each day, a poem featuring the "word of the day" from the book.
Thanks for reading.
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