SMALL

As if we were trapped
By two zones of time,
As a fly trapped in amber
Will die more slowly and grandly in the gold world
Then his twin in the clear web
Watching the ungainly tomb of the spider's body
Approach on its hinged stilts
So with us.

As if we were trapped
By two rings,
And you, coming first, closer to the heart
Of the oak
While I, coming later,
Spin in my orbit around you,
Not so near the heart,
But near the jagged edge of the bark
Where time creates its new things.

And I want none of them.
I want to place a hand
On each side of the tree and squeeze until
The rings inside collide and join.

Now I see why stardust litters the sky,
Where God, ruler of all,
Who could do as he would,
Smashed world after world after world,
Attempting the gigantic thing
Which seemed so small.