the very flame 

of modernity:

a tea light.

should the Mother sneeze:

snuffed.

mistake not

a house of cards

for brick,

for mortar.

let your stronghold

be a castle in the sky:

let your fortress

be a palace of the mind,

a kingdom

in the heavens,

a throne of ether—

built

on the rock

of what came before,

and what will remain

long after:

after the Moon, 

the Earth,

the Sun, the stars

fall,

one by one,

back 

into the cauldron.

close your eyes:

you can see it dance

on your lids,

you can feel 

the stirring ladle

in your veins, 

its soup:

starlight.

what 

could be more unshakable 

than that 

which cannot be touched?

time,

unstoppable force.

the spirit:

immovable object.