First Dawn

Footprints glisten on the new made shore,
My passing fades behind me in the tide,
Sand grains dancing to some fractal law,
Their history for evermore to hide.

Above me reigns the majesty of night,
With shattered crystal as its regal crown,
In endless depths uncounted shards of light,
Map out the many paths I can walk down.

Alone in ageless time I brooded long,
No echo came in answer to my screams,
Adrift upon the gulf of right and wrong,
Without another soul to hear my dreams.

I found no Cause, no maker of my kind,
And yet I made this jewel in my turn,
A world, a living mirror for my mind,
The one remaining thing for me to learn.

And then I left the wave kissed virgin sand,
Unfurled my wings and launched myself on high,
And reaching out with fire in my hand,
I hurled a new sun deep into the sky.

My shadow spans the oceans far below,
I am the first, creator of the light,
This world reflects of me what I must know,
My Eden, shining in the endless night.

(David Colter 18/05/2000. Version 1.3 Music by Samuel Barber, The Verve)