In the initiation of time and space

There was nothing, not a sound.

In the start of light and dark

There was the beginning, coming around.

Consciousness none, nothing known

Scattered together yet fractured apart.

But slowly the stars blink, and present is sown

Then they are unified, one of heart.

They had no names

No, not yet.

Because none indeed to stake the claims

None indeed, they had yet met.

Little by little they illuminate;

Bit by bit and one by one.

It matters not how long the wait

Never anyone will they shun.

And so it becomes at their core

All aglow, splendid show.

Luminescence thus, darkness before

All above, and all below.

As one they decide

That a game must be had.

And with none that denied

They set to think – just a tad.

In the game each is a player

A contender in a jolly war.

Glowing brighter, searing hotter -

Gleeful, they must keep score.

At inception, it spoke of bliss

But a skirmish it has to become.

Because it is as it is;

And to a victor they must succumb.

One exceptional star, it burns

Radiant and merry, bright and true.

And with confidence, so it turns

Voice growing, coming through.

“If this be the fight

If this be the dare -

Being so, it has no bite -

Stay your eyes, watch me flare!”

It is then, pushing to the verge

Curling tight, reaching within -

One moment, two, in one large surge

The star shouts then, blazing its skin.

The others, wary at first instance

Of this deed.

Now are pregnant in silence

As wonders breed.

Then in a cacophony

Voices return.

A racket in harmony

Together they spurn.

“It is a simple feat

A doing easily mastered.

This is no defeat -

Here, your challenge answered!”

And so the darkness

Cries despondent.

Points of blackness

Reduced to concealment.

To their delight, for a time

It does indeed seem like fact -

That from their apparent prime

One cannot subtract.

But alas

The thing they not yet know -

Is alas

The sacrifice will soon show.

With this need to eclipse and surpass

The stars push, limits unheeded.

Their jeers becoming loud and crass

Till through space a scream descended.

“It burns it burns

It eats me from inside.

It churns it churns

It tears me out wide!”

And with a sudden shriek

She erupts, a scorching shower.

Then her glow is hidden bleak

And their number - one lesser.

They drown in discordance

Unsettled, astounded.

Omnipotence -

Shattered.

In the end of it all

The thing is this -

Silence will soon fall;

The kiss of a quiet abyss.

But the card has been dealt

The end must follow what begun.

Thus over Time's feet they have dutifully knelt

Burning out slowly, one by one.