The monuments we erect
To assure ourselves
Of our own greatness
Barely breach
The lowest cloud
Of nature’s modest creation
While the proof
Of our existence
Is a contrail adrift in time
Dissipating in the empty sky
Of infinite space
The monuments we erect
To assure ourselves
Of our own greatness
Barely breach
The lowest cloud
Of nature’s modest creation
While the proof
Of our existence
Is a contrail adrift in time
Dissipating in the empty sky
Of infinite space
Oh, little one
Feel my heat
See my radiance
Do you not wish
To be so grand as I?
Oh, indeed, Great One
The little light replied
Your luminous warmth
Is the envy of all
Words in which the Great One
Took no small pleasure
Preening in preparation
To further explain its greatness
But… were I to be you
Continued the lighthouse
When the night comes
Or the fog grows heavy
Who would guide the sailor’s way?
Startled, chagrined and angered
The Great Light drew a deep breath
Preparing a dismissive retort
Then sank below the horizon
Leaving the little light
At Amphitrite
With its ever present beacon
To shine into the quiet night
While I imagine pyramids
And Pharaohs
Slaves and Gods
In a dreamtime
Of human greatness
And cruelty