From Dust Unto Dust Poem by Lone Dog

'From dust unto dust' the priests would all say,
As coffins were lowered into the clay.
But I, as a child, could not figure out
What that puzzling statement was really about.

Was I actually made from a ball of gray fluff?
When I died would I be a pile of that stuff
And drift around under somebody's bed
Or get mopped up from a floor instead?

How could I be formed from a bit of gray dust?
It just seemed absurd and made me nonplussed.
Not till I was older could I tell my friends
That, 'from dust unto dust', I now comprehend.

'From chemicals to chemicals' - that's what is meant.
The cycle of life - it's now evident.
For the plants get their chemicals all from the earth,
Then the cows eat the plants to increase their girth.

Then we eat the cows so's to gain in size.
We borrow their chemicals to be healthy and wise.
And when we die, our bodies decay
So new plants can grow on a future day.