Dancing on Dust

The essence of wealth and the perfume of diamonds
Eludes us but sirens its song on the wind.

And we reach, how we grasp, for the treasures our senses
Can gather and measure and finger and spend.

But at once, in a breath, we are naked and empty
How naked and empty are we in a breath.

And the things of this earth that we swore by, now rubble.
The perfume of pleasure stinks plainly of death.

For no matter how solid the world seems around us,
We’re dancing on visions of dust all the same.

But for us, there’s a light with more substance than granite,
And for us, that light has a name.