Larger than Life

By the shore I sit, upon the cushion of sand,

As waves froth and perish at my feet,

Hands on chest, they pool, and meet their end --

to please me was their dying wish.

I draw my gaze to the dark horizon,

and I'm hit by a pang of longing,

For it's to the heavens, you say, I shall return,

Once my stay on earth has reached its ending.

Until then, on land I must dwell,

And delight in its design,

Lest its marvels go to waste,

with no audience to spellbind. 

Everything here was fashioned for me,

The trees, the thunder, the lizards,

To spectate, manipulate and harness,

I as their master and they my subjects.

The stars above twinkle and dazzle,

and almost chime in unison,

Gazing up I am struck by their brilliance,

Am I also their devotion?

I grin from ear to ear at the thought,

I truly am a God on earth!

But if so, I'd like the stars bigger, why are they not?

My grin vanishes as quickly as it had appeared.

I want to touch a star, and steal some of its light,

Keep it in my pocket to toss about at night,

And walk on the ocean and throw it therein,

to see what lurks beneath while it sank within.

I want the crickets to quit their songs,

without having to do them wrong,

And I want to listen to the hum of the moon,

especially during the stifling heat of noon.

If I were God, surely my wishes are the universe's commands?

And if you were God, surely yours too?

But if you and I both were Gods,

can all our wishes come true?

If you wish for starlight killed,

and the crickets to sing into the day,

Whose wishes shall be fulfilled?

Who is to have the final say?

If the universe was made for us,

If you and I truly mattered,

Will the sun still rise

long after our demise?

I gaze at the horizon again, 

to beg for a semblance of authority,

The stars that had previously beamed,

now sneered back at me.

If you were our devotion,

they taunted, almost in unison,

Would it not be rude that our light

takes years to reach your sight?

I tear my gaze away,

unable to behold the heavens any longer,

But a sliver of hope stays,

before the world could turn dismal and sombre.

The grand betrayal of the cosmos is its own undoing, I ponder,

for if it weren't for you and I and all of life,

The universe would not have an audience,

and its spectacles cannot be revered.

I may not be the epicentre of existence,

and the universe may not be at my command,

But I sure know how to make a rock

feel like a swan!

I look up again, pleased,

like an atheist who has found God,

And I dare say I notice

the stars smiling sheepishly back, those frauds!

Grinning from ear to ear,

as I walk away from the shore,

I turn around to see the water

pleasing nothing anymore.