A meditation on number

Isn’t it hard to imagine
a universe with less stars

say a few thousand at most
and less planets and moons

in an outer space more akin
to our own intimate world

a cosmos of homely proportions
one we can get our head around

and yet as I look across the fields
I see birds coming and going

in their hundreds flitting
from tree to tree or cackling ducks

following the path of the winding river
swarms of swallows weaving through

the summer air feeding on a froth
of all but invisible aphids

and in all things there is the plethora
of plenty and only I am alone

John Lyons