Dust
Brian Campbell
This little speck of dust
gets up in the morning,
weighs himself, puts on clothes, has breakfast.
This little speck of dust
goes to work, where he types, files and chats on the phone
with other specks of dust.
This little speck of dust
is glad when he comes home in the evening
and when the weekend rolls around:
he can watch TV, read books, surf the net,
even play guitar.
He has a speck-of-dust wife
and speck-of-dust children
and owns a house that is home to
hundreds of thousands
of other, more miniscule
specks of dust.
He has opinions about himself, and his fellow
specks of dust.
He worries about his civilization being
swept away.
Evenings, on his front porch, he gazes up
at the dustpan of the sky,
at the millions upon millions
of brilliant specks
from millennia ago.
He wonders what will become of him.
At night he dreams
of dust.
----------------------------------------
Montreal poet/singer-songwriter/editor/translator Brian Campbell is the author of several collections of poetry, including Shimmer Report (Ekstasis Editions, 2015) and Passenger Flight (Signature Editions, 2009). His poetry has appeared in such literary magazines as The Antigonish Review, Vallum, CV2, The New Quarterly, Grain, Prairie Fire, Montreal Serai, and The Saranac Review. He also cohosts the literary series, Lawn Chair Soirée. Brian’s latest independent music album is A Crystal Rim, an EP featuring poems by Rumi, Hafiz and Gabriel Celaya put to music. Visit his homepage at www.briancampbell.ca