the only things alive

a toddler laughing chasing crabs
with a flashlight beam, we run
along the crashing whitenoise surf
that pounds my mind into a song

   baby, let's take a walk
   down to the moonlit sea
   we don't even have to talk
   let's just see what we can see
   the stars are so deep tonight
   is there life in outer space
   or are we the only things alive
   just trying to survive

drink at the sea, live in a hole
I'll use my claws if I have to
fight the bigger creatures so
I can eat the little creatures if I want to

            the sea is in everything
the sea and the sun
            the sun feeds the cycle
the sun feeds the plants
             the plants feed the animals
the plants in the earth
            the earth is an organism
the earth lives but how
            but how will this world survive
        and are we
            the only things alive?

I can see the dolphins swim
the undertow pulls my heart
reaching out into that space
we are so far apart

©1990 Andy Wyatt
music and lyrics written 24, 26, 29 June 1990