We are as sand and each is but a grain,
And as the gulls that circle, wings unfurled,
That seem as one to stars above the world,
We are akin to each, yet not the same —
And if one grain is plucked unto the sea,
Do stars proclaim diminished is the beach?
Do gulls bemoan the lesser is their breach
For banquet set ‘tween ocean and the lea?
No, no! Tis brother misses sister lost;
Tis mother mourns a son, or daughter taken.
Young gulls soar still; Old stars gleam on unshaken.
Tis deep amongst the dunes wherein the host
        Does quake as news of twilight whistles by,
        Heedless to one less twinkle in the sky.