Starms Cummin

Dream books, song-books, maps
Of the stars agree—
Huge things are out there,

Too huge to say this
Is to that as that
Is to this and keep

Both ends of the pair
You’re comparing by
Analogy in

The range of humans’
Sensed experience.
Try this: you’re a boat,

Rowboat or canoe,
Out on the ocean,
Waves to horizons

On a calm, clear night,
The waves just ripples.
As all the ocean

Is to you, no, as
All of the stars you
Can see are to one

Ripple by your hull,
That’s how all the dark
Beyond what you see

Is to all those stars
That don’t pity you.
Entire galaxies

Are boats on those seas.
Too much? You can’t sense
How much you can’t see.