Earth Endures

Somewhere out past a dark galaxy
in a vast, blind cloud of dust and gas
my consciousness envisions it—
the impossible expanse, the long reach
I am certain no human eye can actually see,
which I have only ever known from
an artist’s impression, an imagination
—pales to these argon hues, the chlorophyll
decomposing into yellows, oranges;
all of this: I’m certain our species will leave
the Earth, but she will follow us
in our vision of beauty, our silent moments,
so long as the memory of her remains.

November 2020