Four  elements were ours to share:
Water, earth and fire and air.

It felt quite right: our bones and brains
Are mostly water; we feel good
By lakes and streams; like beavers slip
Into the lovely liquid flood.

We float in water – we’d float in air
If earth didn’t hold us, gravity-bound.
We wade in mud, stumble through sand,
Heads in the air, but feet on the ground.

To handle fire we had to be smart–
Prometheus’ gift to the human race.
We cook and smelt and forge and burn
And feel the bliss of the sun on our face.

Voices come to us through the air,
My own voice travels out on my breath:
We feel our lungs – inhale, exhale -
A rhythm that only ends with death.

But the four elements are now but a fable -
We’ve switched to the periodic table!