The Future of Knowledge
By John Herlihy

Does knowledge have any future,
If we cut it open at the seams?
Does science contain any promise,
It we have not a clue what it means?
Do facts we uncover have any insight,
If they lead down a path to nowhere?
Does information open our understanding,
If its power lacks encouragement to dare?

Are we cut off from universal mysteries,
If we only desire the harsh physical world?
Are we denied any true sense of eternity,
If we are into the continuum of time hurled?
Are the human emotions so many neurons,
If at the mercy of a few chemical sparks?
Are our weaknesses and loss so much kindling,
If they only produce a few scorched marks?

How do we know when something ends,
If everything just continues to churn?
How do we know that the poems ends,
When the poem’s fire continues to burn?
How do we know when the rainbow stops glowing,
When the rainbow’s beauty continues to endure?
How do we know when the stars stop twinkling,
When they continue celestial mystery to ensure?

Who can say what the future will bring,
When the knowledge of the present no longer sings?
Who can say what the mystery means,
When the physical world is only what it seems?
Who can understand what the laws of nature suggest,
When nature’s beauty only fills us with regrets?
Who can appreciate the rhythms of the days and seasons,
When their passing brings with them no clear reasons?

The magnificent beauty of the creation is matched on earth
By the miracle of human consciousness that seeks out Heaven.
The sound of the night wind whispers through the pine trees;
The rumbling voice of thunder brings humanity to its knees.
The early morning mist creeps quietly across the valley floor;
The procession of night and day pass steadily thru earth’s door.
The human soul knows instinctively who and what we are;
We need not empirical facts to explain the mystery of the star.