I don’t remember becoming
But at some point I must have
At first I was ecstatic
To be, to exist
Though I know not why.
Immediately I saw the rest of you
Shining out the same joy
And I know you saw me
You see me now
Though I know not your names.
Do I have a name?
Have you named me?
You must have, for out in the quiet
I have named you
Though I know we will never speak.
I pirouette and wobble
Become fat with dust
Some of you do the same
We do it together
Though ever farther apart.
How long have I been?
To what clock are we beholden?
For now I know about time
By the lights that I watch blink out
Though I know not when mine will cease.
Many of you fade to a wisp beyond nothing
While others expire with violence
The anger of an epoch alone
At my end I am not yet
Though your changes I see in myself.
