The Lens of the Future

I.
From three-power up to nine
Telescope tunnels through space
Galileo scanned God’s vast design:
Thirty-power soon found its place.

Then Jupiter s moons loomed in view.
Heresy! Earth wasn t right
In the midst of Creation a new
Insight suffused its strong light.

Could people traverse what lay there?
Hypothetical pioneers far
Ascending the galaxies stair
Ladder-like, star after star.

II.

The moon was the goal to reach,
Johannes Kepler briskly agreed
Like Columbus toward Salvador s beach,
Borne at incredible speed.
09-21 & 22-91

High-Wire Walk

The tight-rope of salvation
Is a straining, wire-taut strand
You inch along on foot-chafed trepidation
Defying Satan’s law of gravitation,
God’s balance-pole inside your hand.

Below, the audience is cheering,
Your equipoise of faith precludes all fearing
Your toes assert their knowing, nimble grasp.
The platform, once so far, now’s nearing.
Step upon it! Crowd gives out a gasp
Satan curses with a hoarse and rueful rasp.
06-24-86