Monday, April 25, 2011

Canopy of Stars

Firmament*

"Many wonders there be, but none more wondrous than man."
- Sophocles, Antigone



The firmament as superstition is tried and true it seems,
But it's a shaky foundation based on what it means.

For stars above are moving as some exploding wonders,
Further from us than our imagination's  doors.

Where do we search for the fixed, the immutable for
our lives in this chaotic world?  The source may be

Ourselves, the ones who think and reason, for we
Are the wondrous ones and the firmament is ours.




* The firmament is the sky, the canopy of stars (as people once envisioned it). It was "firm" because it was thought to be a fixed and immutable dome. Today the word is often used in a metaphorical sense to mean the constellation of "stars" (celebrities or key people) in a certain field. (Garner's Modern American Usage)




from  Geography Lessons, 2011   -   James Henderson

2 comments:

@parridhlantern said...

Loved this, and yours I'm guessing, if so a lot braver than I. Change of subject, noticed the Twitter buttons, do you have a Twitter presence?, if so I'm my site name.

James said...

Thanks for your comment. I'm glad you liked the poem. It is part of a group I refer to as "Geography Lessons" - of the mind and spirit. There are a few others I've posted over the years.
Regarding Twitter, I am listed but visit it rarely. (jwhend543)