Tolls

Tolls

And when you at last enter the stars,

Will you tread lightly?

Have you yet respected any firmament?

Have you returned what you have received?

Have you made covenant,

And kept it?

You have dared the oceans,

Yet foul them still.

You have ascended every peak,

And carved their faces in pride.

Here - where you eat,

Where you sleep,

No forest is unsullied,

No river is untainted,

No desert remains without your trash.

When you enter the stars,

What mark will you leave?

And what has given you the right?

You are yet children.

And your lessons are passing you by.

When you at last enter the stars,

Will you still be as untaught?

You plunge every depth unlearned.

You make every leap unquestioned.

Every advance exacts its price.

What price the heavens?

And who will pay?

All of us.

As we always have.

And always will.

Cliff Lake 3/25/2023

CliffSongs