Divine, To Have a Piece of You So Near

by A. H. Knight

I cannot wrap my mind around you — A line
Of thought could never stretch so airy fine
To compass that ecliptic. Take me, I fall,
Magellan-born who could not circle all
But longs to disrobe
The hidden globe.

To wrap my mind… as if your nebulae
Could be so shackled! No, I swim, engulf me,
Descend me into night, that fertile tar
Where the bloody horn of Taurus is a star.
Starling, let me chart it, grant me passage
And I will sing your zodiac visage.

The water bearer kisses the Gemini two.
A beam of light, I speed the distance of you
And still I am within you: I traverse years
In drops that are the music of the spheres.
When Galileo mapped these starry movements
He knew the cosmos needed no improvements.

Cosmologists with calculations mark
The overwhelming presence of the dark,
And dying stars burn oxygen for bread.
A holy scroll is strapped to a man's forehead:
A verse of yours would be sweet weight to bear;
Divine, to have a piece of you so near.

Copyright © 2005, A. H. Knight

A.H. Knight's poems have been published in The Evansville Review and on the website Poetz.com. His play The Martyr as Ointment Jar was produced at Williamstown Theatre Festival as part of their Museum Pieces series. He lives in New York City.