We’d better listen
To our better angels
As they urge us
To quit suspending our disbelief
And grasp the incandescent
Heart of mercy
By its frayed edges
No tree of knowledge
Has sprouted a sturdy trunk
Nor are its fruits to be plucked
Unexamined
No Rapture Ready Index
To provide us numbers
Nor are our ears prompted
To receive the wisdom
Of the octopus
We have taken our moral compass
On procession
But it fails to point
To any known direction
Yet we can’t glance back
Lest we turn to salt
Never see the light of day
Nor Eurydice’s sweet face
Nor a certain innocence of this Age
And ahead the path
Is brimming with thorns
The traps about to trigger
As we falter and hold.
October 19,2023
Cover image: Galaxy from the James Webb telescope.