Poetry

Eternal Droplet

Four Billion Years in the Life of a Droplet of Water

From cosmic depths, a comet's frozen heart
Pierced Earth's molten veil with ancient grace
Released its burden to the churning dark—
A single molecule, destined to trace
The story of a world yet to emerge.

Suspended in the turbulent young air,
This quantum of existence danced and swirled,
Until the cooling heavens bid it fare
Downward to the primordial seas unfurled,
Where continents were born in fire and steam.

Four billion years past, this drop became
Life's first messenger, consumed within
The simple forms that learned to tame
The sun's raw power, releasing oxygen
That turned the skies from copper-red to blue.

Through countless deaths of stars and birth of stones,
It rose and fell in nature's endless tide,
Watched reptiles claim their prehistoric thrones,
Then perish as the mammals learned to ride
The changing winds of evolution's dream

In glacier's grip, it slept in frozen time,
Then broke free as the warming currents called,
Carved valleys deep and mountains sublime,
Witnessed empires rise and kingdoms fall,
Each cycle adding to its ancient tale.

Through steam of progress, rivers of decree,
It served the dreams of humankind's ascent,
Carried whispers of history to sea,
Each cycle skyward bearing what was spent
In mankind's brief but transformative reign.

And now, upon this dawn-kissed autumn leaf,
This traveller rests, a mirror to the world,
Reflecting back four billion years of grief
And glory, in one droplet tightly curled—
A cosmos in a sphere of morning light.