Swimming in its world of amber <br />The long-legged fly can still remember <br /> <br />The burning heat <br />Of the sun in the Eocene <br /> <br />From its golden sea, this fly has seen <br />The dance of continents, the rise and fall <br /> <br />Of all ten thousand things <br />Upon our planet. <br /> <br />In the many facets of its eyes <br />Seas have filled with water, deepened, dried, <br /> <br />Mountain ranges risen, crumbled. <br />This fly has seen the centaur and the unicorn <br /> <br />And the first Neanderthal. <br />Nations, empires passed before it, <br /> <br />Wave after wave in quick succession. <br />This fly was in its amber when <br /> <br />King Cheops built his pyramid <br />And Roman Caesar conquered Gaul. <br /> <br />Now with this ancient creature in my palm <br />I am become <br />The green flash of the setting sun.<br /><br />Pete Crowther<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/a-fly-in-amber/
