Looking across the large room full of display cases
The glass reflecting fossil bones near and far
Telling the story of evolution writ large
Leaving so much extinction in its wake.
You pass slowly from one specimen to the next
Reading about the detailed distinctions
How science takes note of the progression
Making sense of a complex process.
Taking photos of objects behind glass
The superposition of transmission and reflection
Like a double exposure with windows and lights
Fuses image layers that move as I move.
Your brain separates out signal from noise
Ignoring the surrounding partial mirror distraction
Seeing through the translucent screening
Absorbing the intended message.
My mind wanders from so much information
The impression of the light on the surface
Present moment juxtaposed with natural history
Millions of years of past life here assembled.
Our human lineage features prominently
As befits the species that amassed this collection
Who worked out an explanation of the origin
Though the puzzle pieces are incomplete.
The universe is indifferent to our wondering thoughts
All the ancestors going back to the first dividing cell
The museum informs us every single person
Shares ninety-nine point nine percent the same DNA.
