All these things are elements 
with something in them missing.
Despite their enormous powers, 
they are only elements.
Despite their outer shells, 
these elements are only tiny cells 
combined into a shape. 
They are only tiny balls
hovering in a tiny air.
These little balls communicate.
They whisper to each other when it’s cold. 
They live, 
and they die when they get too old.

April 1999