Ansae

Not so much wheels within wheels
As hoops atop hoops, this world,

This cosmos of fields and fires
That loop from cold near zero

To furnaces that explode.
And what should you make of this

On your downtime between wars,
Feuds, petty thefts, police states,

Lynchings, riots, elections,
Hunts, assaults, gossip, slacking,

Grooming, barn raising, races,
Supply chains, education,

And all the rest of the strange
And instructive games you play?

What extends swings round again.
Every journey is an arc

Connecting disparate parts
To get a handle on them.

Fierce stars burn throughout the sky
That will never touch your eyes,

But somewhere a messenger
From your species, from your Earth,

Traces its long hinge from life
To deep space and back again.

You read that right. Back again.
Voyager will come again,

Like Jesus and like Harlem,
But don’t go waiting up nights.