We're Still In Eden

An appreciation for what is rare in the universe:

Sparks Lake, Oregon

Copyright Laura A Knauth

There's a whole lot of nothing out there.

Distant vapors stretching into emptiness,

slowly condensing to fine particles,

blasted from stars.

Finally lumps of stone find each other in the vast reaches,

coalescing into liquid fire.

And no matter how many of these may dot the emptiness,

each one, in just the smallest fraction of space,

contains the highest and rarest of forms.

And on the surface of one of these tiny dots,

on the thinnest of eggshell crusts,

where molten lava meets frozen space,

tendrils of green and leafy things slowly take hold.

And in an explosion of mobile life,

single-cell creatures emerge.

No matter how small, no matter how many,

what a rare achievement for each

compared to the vast emptiness between the stars.

Then creatures of yet greater complexity

grow to roam the distant reaches of earth.

The terrain may be difficult,

but it is a paradise of the rarest kind.

From so much nothingness,
coalescing to a tiny oasis,

supporting countless forms of life.

And no matter how many souls may walk the earth,

there is only one you and one me.

by Laura A Knauth