One is for our phosphorous temple that crumbled in the storm.
The monkeys warned of a darkness coming.

Two is for the nations regarded by God–
trading spices for children–salt and cumin
shoveled into strange boats, Girl-girls and Girl-boys
climbing the thorn trees, weeping.

Three is for the awesome density of our existence:
a thimbleful weighs thirty-six billion tons.

Four is for the Worker, the Talker, the Nude,
and the Miraculous Shepherd who unfailingly
persist on our behalf.

Five is for the stages of the cooling of the stars:
the Heat Puffing Stage, the Stage of Velvet Softening,
the Carbon Inter-Conversion, the Stage of Regret,
and the White Giant Stage. Praise to every star,
every stuttering furnace!

Six is for the six kinds of air we have created:
Common Air, Vital Air, Pure Air, Disciplined Air,
Fierce Air, and Air Between All Things.

Seven is for us, the Seven Morally Perfect Vivian
Sisters. We shall lead the Child-Slave Rebellion for
we are the vortex of human capacity!

Eight is for the Fantastic Elsewhere.

Nine is for the Nine Energized Proofs of Intent
which explain the Tainting of Liquids, the Geometrical
Strata of Reliance, and the Belonging of Everything.

Ten is for the ten-chambered heart of the Long Bird
who flies over us with kindness and sadness and care.