You are the children of a dead planet, earthdeirdre, andthis death we do not comprehend. We shall take you in, butmay we ask this question--will we too catch the planetdeath disease?
You waited so long to heed us, earthdeirdre, Almost we pruned you, as we may yet prune your branches.
Eternity lies ahead of us, and behind. Have you drunk your fill?
We welcome you, earthdeirdre and earthwheat and earthtree as honored guests, for you add great power to our ancient song-- planetfungus and planetworm and planetmind sing and play here, and you are welcome among us.
No longer mere earthbeings and planetbeings are we, but bright
children of the stars! And together we shall dance in and out
of ten billion years, celebrating the gift of consciousness until
the stars themselves grow cold and weary, and our thoughts turn
again to the beginning.
You are orphans, earthdeirdre, your homeworld already buried
so young among the aeons. Yet now you fill the skies where
we watched a million sunsets with flame and contrails, paying
no heed to the hard lessons the universe has tried to teach you.
Are you a breath of life to invigorate a complacent world,
you earthhumans, or an insidious cancer which must be excised?
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