In a Grain of Sand

Jesús Papoleto Meléndez

     ^{To see a world in a grain of sand …
    from “Auguries of Innocence” by William Blake}

We are Starseeds  
                   every one of us –  
                                                     you & me,  
                       & me and you  
                           & him & her,  
                                                    & them  
                                                    & they  
                                                    & those  
                    Who know of this  
                         are truly blessed  …  

 True for all  
                    living beings,  
                                        beings living –  
                                                               not humans only,  
                                         but ants & trees  
                                              & the open breeze,  
                                                  things that breathe  
                                                      air or fire,  
                                                         water, earth  
                                       all  kinds of dust  
                                                                & dirt,  
                                                                   particles  
                                        a  part of all,  
                                                            all a part  
                                                                          of  
  Everything  
            that is  
        in everything;  
                                 Thus, it Sings!!!  
                                                      & its song  
                                                                    is Life,  
                                                                       & Life
                                                                                 is!!! …  
  a  seed of Stars,  
                      the dust of Suns  
                                                & Moons  
                                                        rocks & dust  
                                       &  outer smoke  
                                                    in outer space  
  Floating  
        in a bath of timelessness,  
                                           counted, measured  
                                                  numbered  
                                   by some species –  
                                                      others caring not;  
  Science & Mathematics  
                     trying to plot  
                                             Poetry in motion,  
                                                                               Motion  
                                                in a Helix’s curve,  
                                And Life  
                                       on Earth
                                           becomes visible
                                                                  to You
                                         through the naked I!

Copyright © 2024 by Jesús Papoleto Meléndez. Originally published in Poem-a-Day on December 11, 2024, by the Academy of American Poets.

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about this poem

“The inspiration for this poem [came] after reading ‘Auguries of Innocence’ by William Blake, wherein the first line expresses ‘to see a world in a grain of sand,’ and the thought of that gave me pause to think about the immensity of that notion. I love life and the cosmos, and believe in my heart that poetry is about empathy. I feel so much for the plights of humanity, the struggle of people living in harmony, trends of how much we are divided while neglecting how much we have in common, [and] how the tiniest things in the universe resemble the largest. I presume we’ve gotten used to the color of blood; perhaps if we were able to see it microscopically, to see the cells themselves, we might mature in humanity. The visual style of the poem on the page is a technique developed over the years, which I call cascadance because the words seem to cascade away from the left-hand margin of the verse, so it’s not totally flush-left. To me, this technique allows for the playfulness of the relationship between words and phrases. It’s not image-oriented, but rather a flow of consciousness on a canvas.”
—Jesús Papoleto Meléndez

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