Here lie the bones of my ancestors 
all that’s left of the lives and the love
every experience of sorrow and joy
crumbling back into earth below and above

Here lie the bones on the gravestone I sit
gazing over the sprawl of the city
crawling and speeding, frantic and living
lamp lit street swamp, smog filled and gritty

The bones echo eons of history
reaching back branching out like a tree 
our lives built over and on all their lives
millions and billions and all family

You and I have a common ancestor
somewhere in the crowding of humanity
and you might be the common ancestor 
to strangers in future whom are yet to be

Billions and billions of huge tiny lives
billions and billions like an ocean of drops
swirling round in a silvery web
not forever however, just till it stops

While we are here, for our sparkling short
insignificant stay on this jewel in the sky
what should we do? Does it matter in fact?
Does it make any difference if we live or die?

Or does everything matter, no matter
how small, no matter how short, no matter how sweet
are the smallest of things the most important of all 
the flutter, the skip of a tiny heart beat?



© Una Hearne sometime after 2000 I reckon – sitting on my grandparents grave in Sutton. Updated and finished 2023

Pic credit: elvisbilajbegovic  Found on: Pixabay