Nature says
look here
at this canyon,
riven through ancient
rock.
Look at this night
sky,
bedazzled with brilliant
stars.
Look at this quivering
calf
taking her first tender
steps.

And we,
we respond:
look here
at this thing
at these machines,
at all these scalable things.
Look at this ingenious
display of everything
we made.
Look at me,
look at
me, just
look –
at me.

So, is that it?
Has consciousness,
billions of years in
the making,
emerging finally
from the roiling
hot bellies
of those brilliant stars,
against all mathematical
odds, resulted
in nothing more
than the universe
taking a
selfie?