after Christopher Smart
For the stars themselves are vast and empty
For they are made in space and by space and of space
For their self-immolation persists to time and nothingness
For their songs are silent and still they deafen you
For you are vast and empty too, though your deeds be mighty
For your being comes from sparks given off by empty stars
For the atoms within you are no more than flecks in the void
For you can never touch another person save through words
For the words from your mouth are only broken air
For your stories echo the song of the stars
For you know that song must exist
For it could not be otherwise
For that song is an elegy as long as the time before time began
For your time is short
For in that time we will resound upon the edges of the universe
For in that time we will touch a thousand thousand men
For in that time we will be alone in your own vast emptiness
For after that time our bones will crumble within the earth
For our flesh will rot and maggots will choke your tongue
For the stars will never know our passing
For they have no time, for they have too much time
For we can never know the size of the vastness
For we can never know the depth of the emptiness
For our time is short
For my speed is governed by the stars
For their song pulls them onward
For I must follow, or crumble and rot
For their sparks are burning brightly within me
For as much as they pull me, I too pull them
For strength does not live in size or depth
For tonight I will walk on fire
For the laws of the universe state I will not be burned
For I can defeat the heat of the elements
For I can sing louder through air that is broken
For my song shall reach the stars
For my time is short