Stone

Passing strangers, footsteps pounding on the dusty asphalt

Brushing off the now and filled with distance

Looking past me, only seeing futures filled with laughter

Off to the paper worlds that tie them here

And I stand, caught in the crowded street awake with candles

Fleeting shadows passing in the night

Each burning brightly, flickering, but only for an instant

I see the trails, flickering in the light

Painted smiles, etched so carefully into the sidewalk

Yet I look down and see nothing but dust

Like snowflakes, hurled towards a darkening world but for an instant

A kiss of frost among the scarlet flames

So far from I horizons lie upon the silver pathways

Hidden in the mind's eye far from reach

Yet I see whole skies, universes intertwined for moments

Hanging just beyond man's gentle touch

Eyes stray past me, as one sees a rock as unimportant

But, stray observer, linger just for now

For while your life doth fade away in less than my stone heartbeat

I hold steady upon this turning earth

Constant as the tide, essential as the air

The earth will turn beyond the human race