Star Species

Star Species

We are star creatures, you and I,

and that quite literally.

Each hair on my head and on your shining wing

was forged by stars,

"Every rock, plant, animal, scoop of seawater 

and breath of air 

owes its existence to the actions of distant suns."*

We are as old as the universe and 

as recent as yesterday’s refugees

arrived on earth from origins light years away.

My stardust settled into human form 

and yours into dragonfly, 

but we are not different.

We are CHNOPS –  space-born elements blown by

ancient winds into ephemeral amalgamations

with different names.

 I see myself as solid and big in the world,

but the mirror reflects my arrogance not my reality.

Like dust, I am constantly blowing away, 

shedding my elements to regroup into other star creatures 

who don’t resemble me at all.

 I am neither solid nor separate

My body is a process not a fixed thing,

and I am no longer what I was.  

New cells are capable of new ideas,

and in this lies hope.

I am stardust, but

I am not the star species.

You are not outside of me, dragonfly. 

We are inside of each other in an inextricable way

with our own fiery processes

capable of exploding into something new.

*Simon Worrall in "National Geographic"