Instant Dust

Throw your handful of dust in the air,

Hold it to the flame of the sun,

Let it mingle with the rain and ride

On the four winds to the four corners;

Find patterns in its patternless swirls through the yawning void.    

Whether a rapturous bow colors the eastern sky,  

Or a confused wind howls curses in the dark,      

Take the instant by her delicate throat

And lay waste to the bounty she offers.

Tomorrow’s lesson: the taste of shadows and dust.