Dust

 Dust is inherently spiritual,
As we see from the fact that matter and energy inhabit both sides of the equals sign
In the relative equation of life
And though I was taught to value the things of the spirit beyond the things of the earth
And then vilified for doing that too much,
Still, I came to a place where I could be aware that they are and always have been the same
 
Dust to dust,
As they say,
And “from the dust you came, to dust shall you return,”
But what happens to dust after dust it becomes?
In thousands of years when the dust is pulled together again
By the turbulence, gravity, mass, and heat
That create the stars themselves
So that we are born from the dust anew
Even as we will one day return to the dust again
In the neverending cycle of beginnings and endings,

Perhaps dust is the constant in all of this change,
And perhaps as we sweep it away with a rag on a Saturday morning,
Or bury it in the ground on a Tuesday afternoon,
Stare at it in the mirror on a Monday before work,
Or sweep it under the rug as something dishonorable,
We should treat it with more respect than we do,
Look at it and see its value, too,
And remember that dust is what we all become in the end,
But also, it is the cradle of our nascent Deity.