out of clay
they caution
dust to dust
they intone
from earth you came
and to earth you will return
they admonish
they remind us
we are mortal
and subject to death
yet insist on their eternals
demons and angels
paradise or purgatory
merely human
with a finite
measure of days
but we have exploded as novas
burned through galaxies
explored far reaches of the milky way
ridden on the tails of comets
danced on the edge of asteroids
until
in a dizzying
frenzy of passion
we fell
through the viscous ozone
past cooling clouds
to settle in the ooze
feeding the ocean’s floor
it was there that we decided
to grow limbs and tongue
all the while holding inside
the truth of our origin
magnesium
calcium
iron
we are the stuff
that stars are made of
it is a scientific fact
a cosmic trust
in ignorance
and in knowing
we hold grains of the divine
inside ourselves
and we always have
Voice: Devorah Major
Musicians: Gaspare Di Lieto (piano), Giovanni Amato (tromba) Maurizio Carbone (percussioni).
Napolipoesia, 2001.
