Denisovan Psalm

Deep inside a Siberian cave,
were found two teeth and a fingertip bone.
DNA analysis concluded these to be
of a young girl from an unknown branch
of humankind, named Denisovan
(after the hermit, Denis, who once lived in the cave).

Two X-chromosomed teeth and a nubbin of bone—
the only record yet known,
that Denisovans ever existed.

_____

Pioneer 10, a space probe launched
to explore the outer planets,
completed its mission, then fell silent
as it slipped the bounds of this solar system home,
to traverse a dark and endless void—
alone and incommunicado.

Scientists predict it will pass by Aldebaran
(a “nearby” star) in some
two million years.

_____

Forty thousand years have passed
since that Denisovan died.
WHO was she?
What mattered to her?
What did she dream for herself?
Did she ever stare up at a raven sky and wonder,
Who it was that made her?

Her only legacy (and of all her kind) is
two teeth and a tiny bone. Nothing else.
Nothing.

______

Fifty times longer than that will pass,
from now till when that lonely ship “arrives.”
Then today will be a very, very long time ago.
What of ME shall, by then, remain?
Any sign or even distant ripple?
Or Denisovan oblivion,
and radio silence?

______

Or more?

God said to the exiles:

   “Can a woman forget her nursing-child, or show no compassion
for the child of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you.
See, I have inscribed you on the palms of my hands.”¹

­­­­­

Remember my dust, O Lord, when I sleep (trusting) in you.

¹ Isaiah 49:15-16

Brad Langley