I WAS

Drop by for a visit and you never know where you will end up. 

Somethng I really should have worked on last night even if it would have made me late to bed. It's not like I have to be somewhere at a certain time in the morning. I wrote this as an experiment several years ago patterned on the Boast of Amergin, a bard and one of the sons of Mil.

"I was the sun, warm rays piercing the clouds to the sea.

I was the sea, mists rising to join the clouds.

I was the clouds riding the winds to rise above the coast range.

I was the mountain, heavy mists drifting across the cliffs.

I was the cliffs, wind carved trees clinging to the crags and bluffs.

I was the trees, leaves catching the fogs; releasing moisture into the earth below.

I was the mist, caught in the moss and last year’s leaves.

I was the moss, trapping the rainbow drops, releasing them into the soil

I was the soil, water full, drops working down, down the foundations of the mountain.

I was the bedrock, water following the cracks, pooling, feeding the deep springs.

I was the deep springs feeding the pools under the trees.

I was the pools, home to little streams bubbling over the rocks fallen from the cliffs.

I was the little streams, rushing to join the great river as it rushes to the salt marshes.

I was the salt marsh, feeding my water back into the sea.

I am the sea, sun warmed, giving up the mists to the sky."

Not too bad for an amateur. But as I reread this I was struck by time. Somewhere around ten to twelve billion years ago this universe was created. Current theories revolve around the Big Bang. Literally almost all the hydrogen in the universe was created in that whatever it was. All the rest of the elements that make up the rest of the universe were cooked in stars. 

Some shed as stars like the sun become red giants and shed rings of gas. Others, the heavy elements like oxygen and iron are created when the blue white giants die in the cataclysms of novas and supernovas. The lives of stars like the sun are measured in billions of years. The lives of the giant blue white stars can be measured in millions of years. generation after generation cooking the elements needed to build a world and shedding them into space.

Hydrogen. One proton, one electron. Needs an additional electron for stability. Oxygen. Eight protons, eight electrons. Two electrons in the inner "shell" six in the outer shell. Two hydrogen atoms will combine with one oxygen atom to form one molecule of water. 

That water that rises to the clouds, falls as rain, trickles deep into the rocks or runs off in a million streams is millions if not billions of years old. That water may have misted the first green to colonize the land. That water may have supported an ammonite or an ancient shark. Sheltered the early crocodiles or refreashed a dinosaur. Perhaps provided a bath for the first birds. Rained on the first flowers.

As I reread that little piece I was struck for the first time by time. Water in whatever form made of atoms millions to billions of years old. Perhaps even part of other worlds. The universe is a great recycler. And you might end up feeling a little humbled and maybe a little more willing to treat that precious water with the respect given to any elder.