The ancients believe in four,
The Greeks and Egyptians and Chinese believe in five.

Alchemists believe in six,
The Hindus and the Buddhists can believe in seven.

Holders of the zodiac tarot cards believe in twelve,
Whilst their cousins the divinatory tarot have four that link themselves back to the original four.

Scientist believe in four main elements,
But we split those into 118 or 115 depending who you ask.

When elements are so important,
Yet so trivial,

How can we take four, or five, or six or seven
And put them into numbers beyond reason?

According to me,
There are five.

There is Earth,
Strong and unmoving,

There is Fire,
Raging, destroying, sometimes rebuilding,

There is Water,
Cooling, calming, comforting,

There is Air
Kissing our cheeks in the form of gentle summer winds,

And lastly there is something I cannot name-
Something that waits for all of us once Earth and Fire and Water and Air no longer matter.

Call it heaven or Nirvana,
Call it what you wish.

But there are five elements
And, whatever it is, it’s the fifth.