Uranium's not that rare
but even so, it's not as if
you have to find it
and mine it and refine it
the way so much of everything goes missing
at every step from ore to end
and called shrinkage
We always knew
we weren't the only world, not even
here in our own little system
and now that they keep finding others
by the wobbles of their suns
red and blue shifts
and simple common sense
Every ragtag and pissant
pissing his pants to get his hands
on the unholy grail, the way nukes change
everything, and make the big boys pee
theirs for a change
That big bowl in Puerto Rico
gulping in all that snap and crackle
from all those stars out there
and all those SETI screensavers
sieving all that data
How hard can it be
to hijack or gather up
a few fissionable crumbs
and remember that undergrad from Princeton
who got an A from the State Department
A few common elements in something liquid
sunshine and lightning
or sulfur and volcanic vents
with time enough for many tries
yearning for existence
How is it that
there's no one but us
and we're still here