Reality is an empty blank (?)
Expanding, quivering
With its unimaginable scale
in light-years!
Gradually quickening its cosmic throbbing
Peppered with everything that dies
Galaxies
Stars
Planets
People

Obeying a thermodynamic process --
That tyrant among physical laws!
From which nothing is exempt
Even you and I.

Thus, human vanity:
A cosmic joke that fades to nothingness
All aspirations, ambitions
******* by entropy
Quashed to oblivion
All is dust.

And yet, humans toil to fulfill
a delusion
Their hope lies in their work
Their progress, their successes
Salvation!

Still, the universe expands...
Uncaring, disinterested
cold

Not minding the plight
of the human microbe.

yes, we all wonder sometimes
if we are more than meaningless specks
on a dying planet and
yes, all things tend toward chaos but
you, staring up at the stars wondering,
are a counterexample

Tangent, like so
Back side, torso
Two systems touching
Move ever so slow
Breathe in the body heat
Top off both of the lungs
Feel those expand the diaphragm
Stretching body to its limit
Then halt
Then hold
Let the ribcage further swell
To the point of nearly bursting
First stroke
Feel cold air tingling the nose
Make contact
Release the diaphragm
Slowly, almost without motion
Pour heat outside into the chill
Until the airways close down shut
Press on, then press some more
And take your breath away
Second stroke
The cycle starting over
Rhythmic, measured, patient
With maximal efficiency
Each night,
You prove through me the limit
of possibility