To Those Who Wrote the Prose

There’s a universe in my library Where I often rest within, Beginning with cosmology Where the mystery of life begins... In space and time in books you’ll find On a shelf upon a wall, Near biology and chemistry Where molecules reign supreme and small. Compared to Homer, Sappho, Shakespear, Keats And Henry David Thoreau, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson And a multitude of other giant minds that glow. In countless pages of the past Through history long and gone, From the dawning of the first sunrise To the tune of a Bob Dylan song. From Lucy’s bones and Neanderthal homes With pictures once drawn in caves, Spirit-filled, the hunted - killed, Not unlike us today. And all the Greek, Roman and Egyptian gods, Pharaohs, kings and Moses’ rod, Hindu, Buddhist, Christian, Sikh, Muslim, Taoist, and Jew, all speak. From books on the shelves of heaven and hell And a Kingdom still to come, When the curtain falls upon us all With no place left to run. From the Maker and par-taker in all We see, think, say and do, From the moon and stars to who we are And all things old and new. In books by the score on politics and war And the lust to conquer all, From Thermopylae to Trafalgar Where the French fleet took its fall. Or the Thirty years war when religious scores Crossed borders from town to town, Left not a trace of love or grace In the corpses scattered ‘round. And from Constantine’s Milvian Bridge, And Hastings to Bunker Hill, Appomattox, Gettysburg, Shiloh and Chancellorsville. While the Battles of the Somme, The Marne, Ypres and Verdun Are told in all the books and pages Of World War One. Continuing through the next world war, Korea, Viet Nam, The Middle East, Israel/Palestine, Iraq, Afghanistan. Where all the Kings Horsemen And all the Kings Men Couldn’t bring the countless dead Back to living again. Still turning more pages And scanning the shelves, The list lingers on From atoms to seashells… From how to paint fruit, trees and flowers To learning to play guitar, Bake homemade breads and birthday cakes And follow the North Star… To astrology, numerology And Technology beyond belief: “AI” thinking, the Titanic sinking Down in the cold, dark, deep… Ocean of humanity’s History, mysteries and sciences galore, Philosophy, psychology, Mythology and lore. Where this mind meanders curiously Among these pages I peruse, Filled with wonder of the long ago And learn of things anew. Lifting this mind towards more sublime Thoughts inside my head, With thanks to those who wrote the prose Of every page I’ve ever read. © Terrell Martin, 12/7/2024