Per Ardua Ad Astra
...inspired by 'Science-Fiction Cradlesong'
by C.S. Lewis
Were we to try for heaven,
by dust and stars be riven
to lust for foreign places
where we might find strange faces,
the cost could be pre-emptive,
marginalize incentive.
In tubes of strengthened metal,
to demonstrate our mettle,
at speeds defying gravity,
(for honour or depravity?)
unknown manifestations
might try and test our patience.
Distances beyond our ken,
regions never seen by men,
from earth's fair confines to the skies,
is this judicious? ...is it wise?
Black as ink and unappealing,
drear is this infinite ceiling!
Perhaps we should be circumspect,
think twice before we genuflect,
raise space to a divinity,
but worship what we sense and see,
what price landscapes, dales and hills?
Space may aggravate our ills.
Note: Lewis died in 1963, 6 years before man landed on the moon.
Copyright © Keith Bickerstaffe | Year Posted 2008
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