good night, mud!

Another wonderful selection from Joe who sends out a poem every day via his Panhala listserv (to subscribe, visit the archives page)

In memory of Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., 1922-2007

The Last Rites of the Bokononist Faith

(excerpt)

God made mud.
God got lonesome.
So God said to some of the mud, "Sit up!"
"See all I've made," said God, "the hills, the sea, the sky, the stars."

And I was some of the mud that got to sit up and look around.
Lucky me, lucky mud.

I, mud, sat up and saw what a nice job God had done.
Nice going, God.
Nobody but you could have done it, God! I certainly couldn't have.
I feel very unimportant compared to You.
The only way I can feel the least bit important is to think of all the mud

that didn't even get to sit up and look around.
I got so much, and most mud got so little.
Thank you for the honor!

Now mud lies down again and goes to sleep.
What memories for mud to have!
What interesting other kinds of sitting-up mud I met!
I loved everything I saw!
Good night.

~ Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. ~

(Cat's Cradle)

(the drawing above is from Kurt Vonnegut's art site)