Dying and Rising

The rubble of a building among the resting
"Urban renewal" they said
A face and perhaps a soul restored to youth by surgeons;
more urban renewal
Also the nine strata of Troy piled upon each other into a mound

Troy VI: Achilles rose in vengeance to his fall
A dead Osiris awakens the seed of Horus in Isis' womb
Jesus himself on the back of a phoenix
rising from its ashen tomb
Prometheus' regrown liver; do you have a light?

I lie in bed aware of my heart ticking away the clock
thinking of the myths of dying yet rising we tell ourselves as consolation
afraid for the frayed fabric that holds us together
I fear things are dying, and these rough beasts who are rising
Step back, step back, step back, raise our eyes towards the black

Streams of cosmic gas spiraling into a black hole
Colliding with another it explodes
While it's such a distant signal in analysis
it's spreading energy to feed life
in unimaginable destruction

The solar system born seeded with the metal forged by novas
We use them in this moment in our iron age
as we worship our dying and rising gods

Yet the spring greets me with crocus, columbines
impossible in their brief beauty
The laughter of a child unfurling flowers after winter hibernation
Forever vows renewed once more with whispers in the dark
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