within the shell swim all the sea's fish
our ears too are compendiums of sound
the big bang exploded - such a long wish
waves and warps towards the present ground

shell to ear - each breeds the other's cry
infinity in slices sluiced in words
haunting the future in us till we die
and what we cannot bring to reason birds

mock in us - lift beyond us in their song
so easily killed - yet their note outlives
everything tangible we must get wrong
we can't stop taking what the natural gives

so many doors to open that confuse
pre-history's offers (there to do us well)
atoms are cracking as we dare not choose
to heed the testament of bird or shell

within the shell swim all the sea's fish
this moment pregnant with what can't be born
a waste to walk on the shore and not relish
the cosmic vibrations of a sea horn