Figure B3 STERILE

Here we may not linger — down a stair,

Which halfway turns to up, or so it seems,

Climb to a lonely strand. The briny air

Wakes our drowsy senses, and the gleams

Of breakers dazzle. The ocean teems

With life, but on the land is nothing more

Than arid rock, bleached by the Sun’s beams.

Three milliards of years must pass before

The first brave plants begin to populate the shore.