Involution

Trees bend low, uproot
and swan dive gracefully
into the earth’s
warm embrace.
Birds build eggs
around themselves.
Eyeballs turn inward
for introspection.
People sound asleep
are startled
by alarm clocks
and wake up into dreams.
Suddenly the slippery stones
in the sand at the sea
seem not so slippery.
The stars and the galaxies
the planets and nebulae
black holes and supernovas
reach their furthest-most
limit
beyond which they will not travel
they stand suspended in space for
less than a second,
and then retreat
to their inward journey
to end with the
universal implosion.
a butterfly flaps its wings
against a gentle breeze.

John Otter
1995