You were there at the beginning. You saw the birth perhaps a wet nurse while the Cenozoic era fussed Its ears heard your lullaby Its cries drowned with time As it grew, its skin turned maritime You are here now, just outside my doorstep, splashing orange across my bay window as you enter A muse that lets us breathe, a solace after the tundra night Why does your constancy feel unreal, like time forgetting its own limits? Are you infinitesimal in your magnum opus— or the tide itself learning your design? Will you always be this flame at the edge of sight, this beloved ghost?