Picture a Vacuum

Picture a vacuum An endless and unmoving blackness Peace, or the absence, at least, of terror Now see, in amongst all this space That speck of light in the furthest corner Gold as a pharaoh's coffin Now follow that light with your tired eyes It's been a long day, I know, but look Watch as it flickers and it roars into fullness And fills the whole frame Blazing a fire you can't bear the majesty of Here is our sun And look See how the planets are dangled around it? And held in that intricate dance There is our Earth, our Earth Its blueness soothes the sharp burn in your eyes Its contours remind you of love That soft roundness The comfort of ocean and land mass Picture the world, older than she ever thought that she'd get She looks at herself as she spins Arms loaded with trophies of her most successful child The pylons and mines, the power plants shimmer in her still Cool breath, now is that a smile that plays her lips? Or is it a tremor of dread? The sadness of mothers as they watch the fates of their children Unfold in now in fast Kaleidoscopic vision The colours like drugs in your belly Churning, your skin pulled loose as a pup shaken and tighten Now everything's flashing and the waves are magnified As they roll up towards you and you're tiny as sand Just a speck And as you approach the surface All of that peace that you felt is replaced with this furious never known passion You're feeling the people, the life, their faces are bright in your body You're feeling you want to be close to them, closer 'Cause these are your species, your kindred Where have you landed? Uncurl yourself, stand up, and look at your limbs All intact, clothed in the fashion This is a city, let's call her London And these are the only times you have known "Is this what it's come to?" You think "What am I to make of all this?"