Home Page is Florida Time Forgot

Discovery

(Photo and words by Mark Renz)

We are the one billionth shell on a beach

open

and waiting to be discovered

by a god

Who will place us on a mantle

to show visiting gods

the beauty of His creation

But knowing our real fate

may be a dusty shoebox in an attic

later sold with other shells for a nickel apiece

or left by the road for the garbage god

who will toss us

onto the heaping pile of humanity

It would be wonderful of course

if we could choose our collective fates

and if that choice led to a sweet and meaningful

unending journey

But knowing that 99 percent

of every animal or plant species

is now extinct

And knowing that somewhere in the Cosmos

one star may have collapsed in on itself

for every second of our measured time

and burned out

Simmering for another eternity

and taking with it

how many planets of intelligent life

how many billions of dreams

of hope

of culture

of all the evolutionary processes

that marked an infinite journey

rich in experiences

and now...Poof!

Gone forever

The beauty of reality

of truth

is knowing

even for a day

a minute

a second

That we held knowledge

in the palm of our hand

We are the one billionth shell on a beach