And in that arc, the universe

We swing from pole to pole,
asleep, awake:
from careful to careless,
faithful to faithless,
thoughtful to thoughtless,
from hope through to despair
and back again,
and in that arc, the universe transcribes
creation's story:
earth, fire, air and water,
sun, moon and stars,
and all the love and loss we know
until at last we circle round;
over the top in one exultant rush --
heart stops, we see it all
go rushing by -- and down;
begin again.