Gray eye of gneiss,
Without allegiance
To the living
Or dead,
I envy you,
Witness to the past
Envoy to the future;

My moment here
But a glint,
A smudge
A carpenter's mark,
A firefly lurching
Through the dark.

Yet even so,
A silent humming
A benign transmission,
Its origin within me
And yet unknown,
Shields me from the deadly cold:
Whatever comes
Whatever may never be,
Once our atoms
Wriggle apart
And
Disperse in protean
Dances of time,
Whether in large-bellied
Oceans
Or the fertile fields
Of swirling sky,
A flower's flirtation
Or a dunghill
Of fervent hope--
Not one will rot
Or lose itself,
Each
Will find abode,
Yes
Every single one,
No matter how large or small its cloak,
Will keep on ringing
Its eternal note.