I Contain Multitudes

We are the body cosmic
The interconnected flesh
Transfigured and forged
In sidereal flame
Dark matter genetics
Pulse through our veins
But life begins shattered
Our first breaths are scattered
And we are born broken.

Whatever I am is the creation of others
Coalescence
Nurture molds what nature has made
I contain multitudes.

Shield the eyes—maternal fire
Fragments of self in the distance
Cosmic background kin
Ego dies in the frigid expanse
Identity killed by the knowledge of station
Unwhole apart—everything together
The untethered celestial
Children of cosmic debris.

Whatever I am is the creation of others
Coalescence
Nurture molds what nature has made
I contain multitudes.

Lungs heavy with stellar dust
Beating blood-red star hearts
Eternal matter incarnate
Is this the grand design?

Where does the weight of the universe lie?

With the stars up high
Or with the space between them?
With the planets above
Or with the suns that feed them?

Where does the weight of the universe lie?

With the brain that breeds thoughts
Or with the mouth that speaks them?

Where does the weight of the universe lie?

With the limbs of a body
Or with the muscles that move them?

Here, from the vantage of stars
A revelation
No whole exceeds its parts
Every cell
A monument to insignificance
Every mind
An ode to circumstance
The truth that each of us must seek:

Where does the weight of the universe lie
If not with me?