that deepest fear

if all the stars went out at the same time
we would not think it any great surprise
nor would we think it any sort of crime

and yet the shock would stir even the wise
to wonder at the world in which they sat
and force the foolish with haste to surmise

that change was coming here in nothing flat
ways that had functioned long no longer worked
and not a single one could now stand pat

in those thick woods what monsters now lurked
that would come out and drive each from home
the ones who struggled and the ones who shirked

the moon itself seems absent from the dome
all the above is cloud and there's no light
to comfort those who stay and those who roam

in deeper darkness we will fear each night
the power to save ourselves we cannot flex
not one of us but knows that we've no right

to all the claims that we have made to vex
the silent entities that we just know must dwell
in all those places we could not annex

the day has gone when we could buy or sell
those ordinary facts that we'd acquire
by means that none of us would ever tell

we'd smile behind our hands at the dumb buyer
who'd think that they'd received some kind of gain
and from that sort of trade we'd never tire

instead we find ourselves out on the plain
alone and helpless facing the deep dark
and wondering just how far spreads the stain

the truth of nature is that it's no park
the world we have was never meant for pride
we think it deep yet shallow is our mark

not one of us that's here will end the ride
just where we want to be we will dismember
the ones who seek to keep an intact hide

and our own fire will burn down to an ember