Soft piano notes,
The whistle of a friend,
Harmonica and flute and drums and the distance between us becomes nought.
We stand here at the edge of a universe
A star dies.
We toast marshmallows and we tell stories and we laugh and we cry
Alone but together in the forest at the end of time.
The twang of a banjo.
Then silence.
And then,
Everything
Sheer immensity
I am every one and every thing
Every speck of dust and every star in the sky
Every unturned rock and every trail not taken
I am it all
I am the light that shines
The darkness that engulfs
The rivers that run and the grass that grows and the rain that falls and the sands that flow
I am every word ever spoken, every tear ever cried, every fear and passion and love and hate
I am the trees and the dirt
The mountains and the lakes
The deserts and the jungles and the frozen wastes
I am fire and I am flame and I am endless
I am time and self and I. am. it. all.
Everything glows
in the brilliance of existence
and I bask in its glory.
I let it overwhelm me.
As everything,
Every person, creature, stone and star
Plummet into the vast emptiness of the void
I stand here as the universe dies
And I am alive. And I am not alone.
There's something coming, creeping over the horizon.
And to those that come next
Unto you I give the world