Unknown hero, walking through the pages
Of your own book---the man of mystery---
Quietly talking while the battle rages,
Working in silence to alter history.
They ask if you are human or a god---
Impervious to passion---so it seems.
A face without a trace of pain? How odd.
How can it be no nightmares haunt your dreams?
You see too far. The world's complex course
Spins out for you as algebraic proof,
From first equation through to final force.
Ahead of time, alone, you stand aloof.
As lightning stands against the blinded sky.
Not motionless. Just faster than the eye.
John Enright
Because we live,
We give
You birth.
What is love
Unless we share it?
Inherit
The earth.
John Enright
Galileo, having confessed
The error of his ways,
And having promised
To follow true doctrine
All his remaining days,
Was released by the Inquisition.
Considering afresh his new position,
He stared at the ground and declarded,
"IT STANDS QUITE STILL!
IT STANDS QUITE STILL!
AS THE CHURCH COMMANDS!
AS THE BIBLE PROVES!"
He lifted his head
And quietly said,
"Nevertheless, it moves."
John Enright
© Copyright by John Enright. Published by permission.
Last updated: 2007-06-10