In the Nation That Is Not Nothing

Only nothing much abides,
Never the same as it was,
Always the same total size.

Long clouds glide around the Earth,
Continents too, more slowly.
Some hours feel good and some hurt.

Some conversations are hushed.
Some name known names and some don’t.
Some things are never discussed,

Never, although they exist,
And, since they’ve never been said,
Nobody notices this.

That’s the way with nothing much,
So much but not once nothing,
Emptiness layered in dust.