"Beyond"
By Joseph Ridgway
Ageing amasses awakenings,
like the mighty oak
garners its rings.
But enlightenment
seems a more
suitable sentiment.
Does an aged state, without more,
spark pathos, or cease
scattering seeds of hate?
Should sharing life’s mandatory,
and universal quietus,
coalesce us?
Our planetary pillars, of both law
and medicine, define death
as the brain — silenced.
Yet, the heart, like poetry,
may continue to beat —
beyond our galactic boundary.
like the mighty oak
garners its rings.
But enlightenment
seems a more
suitable sentiment.
Does an aged state, without more,
spark pathos, or cease
scattering seeds of hate?
Should sharing life’s mandatory,
and universal quietus,
coalesce us?
Our planetary pillars, of both law
and medicine, define death
as the brain — silenced.
Yet, the heart, like poetry,
may continue to beat —
beyond our galactic boundary.
Author’s Note:
Carl Sagan once stated that: “Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known.” I like to think and hope mankind itself is capable of recognizing that “incredible something.” This poem explores such a hope.
This writing was initially published in “The Poeming Pigeon, A Literary Journal of Poetry,” in its 2020 Cosmos Anthology.
Carl Sagan once stated that: “Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known.” I like to think and hope mankind itself is capable of recognizing that “incredible something.” This poem explores such a hope.
This writing was initially published in “The Poeming Pigeon, A Literary Journal of Poetry,” in its 2020 Cosmos Anthology.