I see you standing
Small and far away
Dwarfed by the dome of the slate-gray sky
With arms outstretched
Like pillars of granite flesh
Silhouetted against the white-capped sea
Reaching, reaching--no
Holding, holding the heavens
The weight of the ever-expanding universe
A yoke on your little soft shoulders

The closer I walk
The more clearly I see you
Solemn soldier, bulwark of the chaos
You so completely desire
I feel the gravity in your eyes
Ever fixed on the ocean
The wish to pitch your burden
Into the maelstrom
Is written in script
On your stoic features
I see you tremble
Despite your calm
I sense the exhertion
With each flickering breath

Filled with concern, I look to your face
And see a gaze vacant yet full of intent
I am as a window
Staring right through me, you peer into
A secret beyond I do not understand
I call to you softly
And silence replies
I reach out to touch you
But you shift away unconsciously
As a sleeping person moves in slumber

Content to be near you, patiently waiting
I raise my palms to the roiling sky
Now angry and lifeless as the waves turned over
Long have you stood on this cliff alone
Long have you pillared infinity in silence
So I have come to you
To stand before you and offer humbly
Eager shoulders of my own
I wait for you to see me
To falter and find yourself no longer abandoned
No more will you carry the house of the gods as a slave
Open your eyes, and hear me say:

Put it down, little Atlas
Put it down.