Originally published in Planet Magazine No. 26 (June 2000).
Looking at my hand
Seeing twisted alien claw
May have raped and pillaged
Without regard for law
Our bodies not brand-new
Just painted recycled parts
Ripped from galactic junkyard
Of broken-down planets and stars
Absolute recycling
A dream for earthbound greens
All could learn a lesson
From the galactic scene
Many a star dies violently
Planets vaporized in a blink
But atoms don’t get destroyed
They dive down no cosmic sink
These atoms become space dust
Just floating free and easy
Waiting to be hoovered
By the force of gravity
Dust collects in a ball
The ball begets a star
The little bits that get missed
Form planets near and far
Now stars live and die
Much the same as we
Many generations before us
Existed in space’s sea
Hence the atoms we are built of
Have come from God knows where
Like the evil blood-sucking alien
That’s now in your underarm hair
Poem copyright © 2000 by Hathno Paige <unwired>
Poem copyright © 2000 by Hathno Paige
