The Demographic Ocean

How does anyone live knowing
Almost everyone’s already
Died, and the living are dying?

The waves of generations break
As relentlessly as any
Surf on an unpeopled shore,

And what’s there, accumulating,
Isn’t them, but they keep breaking,
Moment to moment, more and more.

Waves don’t own their own behavior.
They’re dragged by gravity, the moon,
Currents, seismic events, sheer spin.

You think you are. You think you are,
And we roar with you, echoing,
Continuous crash. Amazing.