Once,
after twenty years of fruitless scribblings,
a composer finally crafted his magnum opus.
Then a gas line sparked and exploded
killing the man and his work.

Once,
a sculptor knelt on a beach
to mold an intricate scale model of ancient Greece fifty feet long.
But no one saw it,
save the moonlit tide as it soaked it’s way through the replicated sand pillars.

Once,
a lone mountaineer gathered up his courage
and embarked on a climb never conquered.
He summited
just before freezing in a snowdrift.

Life is a thin rice paper.
It can burn.
It can tear.
It can decay.
It will expire.

However,
it can also be painted on with colors
more vibrant
more stunning
than the shades of the soul.

Once,
there was a universe
that held a floating rock with water and heat and air.
Then a life formed
and the universe observed itself…

…If only for a while.