3 Poems Called Cosmic
by JM McDermott
1
i hate to be the one to break it to you like this
we destroyed the galaxy Thursday –– when it rained
my daughter and i had built a solar system out of cardboard
when the wind blew –– the solar systems turned on a string
when it rained, whole planets melted
and the walls of heaven collapsed
into a puddle of potting soil
in the bed of my pickup truck
people do not believe our galaxy was alive
but I tell those doubters that they are correct –– and totally wrong
because
on a large enough time scale:
the possible becomes probable,
and then, the probable becomes ––
inevitable
and in an infinite sea, all that is possible will emerge from the
primordial ooze
eventually.
bacterial empires rose
fell amid the fungal forests
jupiter, pluto, and mars
a dialogue of enzymes
prayed to heaven for life everlasting
and until I can push my skull
through the wet brown paper of
swallowing an infinite
alphabet
until then I will not love
my daughter’s
crooked grin
she’s caught in her first lie
she told me she had brought the galaxy
in from the truck’s bed
and i sent her
to her room
to think
2
nasa talks about the vast open like an infinite space
so did the settlers when we first touched the virgin midwest
but the big bang had a measurable energy, yes?
anyone?
someday, when the universe falls apart,
and all the suns fade to black
do you think the increased gravity
of so many black holes pulling hard
will curl back to a single holy source?
i don’t. i think astronomy is a test of faith.
jesus will come down from the sky
and four horsemen will ride upon a rainbow
and heaven will flip the blessed inside out
and we’ll spend an eternity discussing philosophy
in white robes. making music to pass the time.
3
if i were a psychic, i would have to learn a new language
of the mind of just one person
because the way we think and the objective correlatives
come from memories that don’t
translate
i do not think i’d worry about the language of heaven.
the objective correlatives of cosmic:
here we are.
Editorial © 2008 JM McDermott. All other content copyright © 2008 ByrenLee Press
Copyrighted by the author unless otherwise noted.
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