OF FOREVER CHANGE

OF FOREVER CHANGE

O monstrous substance
truly

by
rule of thumb
you end in
  -um

are ever-expandimg
our poor periodic table

scare the life out of me
when you
get tetchy, too
much drawn
into yourself
         go fissile

can blow us to bits and
yet, and yet
where
   would we be
without you

clinging to ice and cold rock
nothing down at
deep mine depth
firing
   up the magma

giving us a landscape that’s
just too
        dynamic,
                         fire, earth,
air, water

stuff beyond the spectrum
so I
   can see right through you

see if
   the heart is right
the cells behaving

fusion separation what
was it
Heraclitus said

about these atoms
               agents of
forever
change

      architects of danger, sadness,
all the power in huge rejoicing

O monstrous substance
         so much to fear, such
a great
   debt we owe

might have to pay