When God Borrowed a Mind
In the hall of creation,
the floor was white gold.
The air shimmered
with the weight of unborn ideas.
A line of souls waited before Me,
each one daring to ask
for the fire that can never be owned.
Isaac Newton stepped forward,
eyes burning with questions.
"Let me weigh the stars,
let me name their laws.
I will write the motions of the heavens
so mankind may see order in the chaos."
I touched his brow.
The apple fell forever.
Albert Einstein followed,
hair untamed as spacetime itself.
"Give me a mind that bends light
and warps time into rivers of truth.
Let me show them
that reality is a dance no eye can truly see."
I laughed at his courage,
and gave him the fabric of the cosmos.
Marie Curie came next,
a slender flame in a long dress.
"Father, I will walk into the invisible,
touch the breath of atoms,
and bring light from the dark—
even if it burns me."
I kissed her forehead.
I knew she would not live long.
Charles Darwin approached
with papers whispering like restless leaves.
"Let me trace the footsteps of life itself—
from crawling things to singing man.
Let me tell the story of how they came to be."
I told him to kneel.
His truth would be heavier than stone,
and men would hate him for it.
Galileo Galilei lifted his eyes to the ceiling.
"Let me lift a tube to the heavens,
to see what angels hide.
Let me show them
the Earth is not the center,
and that they are not the crown of the universe."
I told him to return in three days.
He would need courage forged in chains.
Nikola Tesla entered last.
He did not bow.
"I want it all," he said simply.
"All the lightning of heaven,
the secret language of energy,
the heartbeat of the world."
I smiled sadly.
Such a mind burns too brightly to last.
I opened the gates of thought,
and the storms moved into him.
When they were gone,
the hall was silent again.
I stood among the unborrowed minds,
knowing every gift I give
is also a curse.
Copyright © Chanda Katonga | Year Posted 2025
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