Will you not leave us here too long We have not paid attention To squander the best of the world A pity we do not understand Ourselves No more you fly in the wind No more the buoyant ripples on a pristine pool The splash of color in a worn-tore land No more The survivor's sad lament Yet no weeping will there be when Your perfect, singular form Vanishes The muted salting of a wounded Earth And all that is and all that ever was will In some way be Diminished For the loss, though unnoticed Will be recognized In the stillness of eternal night.