Driving through Iowa, the bough of a great elm, standing above the rest, snagged my eye.  What a magnificent specimen.  Of the over 3 trillion trees on earth, many are taller or wider or older than this elm, and they’re never seen by human eyes.  Does this rob them of their magnificence?

I reflected on all the trees throughout the Triassic, the Jurassic, the Cretaceous, and the Bodacious that lived and died never to be recognized for their beauty.  And then I thought about all the people, all the peasants and slaves (and all the poor undiscovered, talentless writers) who labored for a thousand generations in obscurity, never to be known by history, to be forgotten as soon as the last descendants to remember their faces died. How many of them were great, too?  I felt sad as I reflected on their anonymous destinies.

Then I looked at the stars, stirring in early dusk.  A sea of galaxies enfolded us, unexplored, unseen by human eyes.  I smiled.  Magnificence doesn’t require admiration to be itself.

© 2022 by Michael C. Just

Mike’s novel, The Dirt: The Journey of a Mystic Cowboy, is available in softcover or eBook formats through Amazon.

You can purchase the book through this website. Or go straight to amazon at https://www.amazon.com/s?k=the+dirt+journey+of+a+mystic+cowboy&crid=1S40Q4BXSUWJ6&sprefix=the+dirt%3A+journey+of+a+m%2Caps%2C180&ref=nb_sb_ss_i_1_23

Mike’s other titles, including The Crippy, The Mind Altar, and Canyon Calls, are available through this website or through Amazon at https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B002

Four of his short stories have recently been published online:

Lies, Ltd. has been published by The Mystery Tribune @ Lies, Ltd.: Literary Short Fiction by Michael C. Just (mysterytribune.com)

The Obligate Carnivore has been published by the Scarlet Leaf Review @ Category: MICHAEL JUST – SCARLET LEAF REVIEW

I See You, Too has been published by the 96th of October @ I See You, Too – 96th of October

Offload, a short story about a man who can heal any disease, is now live and can be read at The Worlds Within at Offload – The Worlds Within