I was once an etude like this:
Frost across the desert floor,
In countless strings of crystal
Whisker outcroppings
God, are no two the same?
Each one dies to life in rising sun
As the shrubs shake off the shimmer
To a richer gold
All of my friends
Have experienced this brief winter
We call them our earlier selves
But they are with us now,
As our higher, future selves
Call to us now
All these layers exist simultaneously
Outside of time
The need to be a gust of wind
A spider's web
A gnat
And then forget
That everything unique
Is held in common
The strangest is the most familiar,
A cholla surrounded by snow
