As Far As We Know

As Far As We Know

The Earth is a swimming pool,
but solid. The Grand Canyon
wouldn’t be the shallow end,
or even the baby pool. To get
to where the diamonds are born,
we’d have to dive down through
a hundred Grand Canyons, stacked.
We can’t go there. Space, sure,
a matter of distance, travel time.
But how to explore the unbudging
depths of our home turf, that place
which is too hard for us to chew
through. Every so often, the planet
spits out glittering bits of wisdom
for us to gather up. We play on
the surface, children on the beach,
squealing when the sea foam
skims our toes.