A World Within Worlds
By John Herlihy

My journeys began as a map of the globe,
Trembling fingers traced perilous journeys.
Across lofty mountains, vast oceans and seas,
The magnificent orb displayed extended terrain.
That extended to the horizon of my imagination,
And then beyond into the world of wild dreams.
Where the eye of the invisible transforms the visible,
Beyond the map edges of the known world.
The aging map recalls the loneliness of the earth,
That reaches thru ageless time far before my birth.
The wandering orb roams track of endless space,
Carrying with it the history of the human race.
The night light shines upon ragged coastlines,
The light has them tremble slightly under my gaze.
As they pulsate with the movement of endless tides,
Mountain peaks warmed by blankets of glistening ice.
Time’s footsteps disappear into the sky-scape of stars,
Evoking feelings of solitude we identify as not only ours.
We roam the cathedral corridors on the earth’s forests,
We soar high like the village storks amid earthly towers.
The world is my monastery where surrounded by secrets,
A world within worlds treasured for its own uniqueness.