The edge of the world
Turn to see the world below
Awash in the light of a failing sun
Fallen far below the dais
On which I stand
Like a god
Lord of all below me
Conqueror of the heavens
A car parks beside mine
Released from its confines
A small boy, about five
Runs over to stand beside me
For a moment surveying our domain
But only for a moment
Before picking up a stone
Briefly inspecting it
Then tossing it over the edge
Listening in delight
As it clatters over the sandstone
For a moment I am reminded
I am much less a god
Than a small stone
Hurled through space
And someday clattering to rest
In a world more immense
Than all my imagining can muster
But it delights me to imagine
The small hand of a demi-god
Who chose me, of all stones
To heave mightily
Into divine existence
Taking pleasure in the clatterings
Of one small life
Careening through the world
At the top of Moki Dugway
Trail of the Ancients
(State Route 261)
Utah, United States of America
Taken during travels, 1996