Whose orbit's broken, then flung far,
Cast away by the star's mighty swing,
It's gravitational arm, to bring
It hurling into the dark abyss,
Never to think of, never to miss,
Gains momentum in its flight through space
To settle in some unknown far place,
Trailing fear and longing in its wake
With its life and comfort to forsake,
I fall fast and faster grasping at
Air and not finding anything that
I can anchor to, to stop the drive
As I plummet further, as I dive,
And never knowing what lay ahead,
Better or worse, what I'll know instead,
Accepting that I may never go
Back and have the life I used to know,
Remembering a lifetime away,
Things that happened only yesterday.
Falling, falling still, then something new -
Gravity - a pull, direction to
Guide my course, bend my path, curve my flight,
An illusion, or some goal in sight,
A destination, perhaps, but an
Upward swing to be sure, better than
A downward spiral, uncontrolled fall
In a wrong direction and with all
The burden that crushes to create
A hole of inescapable weight.
A star may catch if attraction's strong
Or it may sling a planet along,
But its influence is no less felt
In its motion and its warmth may melt
Frozen waters and grant it air,
Stifle suffocation, give life where
None was found or it had diminished.
Strengthened for when the journey's finished,
The sphere finds a new ellipse, abides
A time, calls home the orbit it rides.
As planets, stars, motion's consistent;
We know not whence came or whither went,
But that they are lost from view, veiled
In darkness, when onward have sailed
And carried our hearts but not our eyes,
Left us to wonder and theorize,
To hope and dream, to pray and yearn for,
To accept what fate has left before
Us, wait the day when it does behoove
Us to venture, as all things, to move.
Christopher Ian Matt
27 September, 2005
No comments:
Post a Comment