THE END OF A BEGINNING



Round and full with the promise of possibility
the egg drifted in pulsing silence
through the warm dark.
A long-tailed comet 
plummeting through the night 
plunged into the latent egg,
bursting the commonplace
with a million unsuspected stars -
a skyrocket celebrating life.

Urged by immortal whisperings
the feverishly multiplying cluster of cells
arrived at last at its proper chamber,
lush and ready.
Here in this nourishing softness
the awesome flowering
of a private and singular glory
struck the delicate image of man.

Then at once this energy, this grace
was gone - torn loose, removed,  discarded.
With a great crashing of small worlds
the miracle was ended.

There must be tears that fall
in some far place
for this most temporary child -
some breath that speaks of him
with love, some intellect
that knows his name, his lineage.
There must be one who will care for him -
the leavened bread that will never rise,
the new song that will not be heard,
the child who was returned so soon
to live in timeless silence -
unwashed, unfinished and unclaimed.

					Lucille Murphy