Wheels

We spin aboard our earthly top,
As round the sun we reel.
Amounting but to dust motes
In the great galactic wheel.

The wheel of time turns endlessly,
In warp and weft of space,
Returning back from whence it came
Yet in a different place.

The cities rise and fall apart.
The species meet their fate.
The continents all drift in time
Like jelly on a plate.

The wheel of life runs on as well,
First birth then death's decay.
Yet with each turn so much is gained
And lost along the way.

We watch love's bright and ardent flame
To cold dark grave return,
Along with power, wealth and fame,
And everything we learn.

So what is left, what will remain
When all our days are through?
What single gift can we endow
To generations new?

Our gift to human kind is love,
Our sole redeeming grace,
To leave a world we found despoiled
Somehow a better place.