Lost in Outer Space

By John Herlihy

Our earth travels in orbit as a perfect sphere,

In the darkness of outer space, no need for fear.

An imperceptible turning in universal rhythms,

Equal to the glowing light of celestial prisms.

Since time immemorial, the journey is made,

Carved on eternal tablets by the Divine Blade.

Into the Supreme Void, our humanity was born,

From the light of inspiration, from eternity torn.

Caught in the infinite embrace of a vast wilderness,

Without the grace of stars, it would be emptiness.

Wrapped in the spacious drapery of innocence,

Encased in a beauty that knows no malevolence.

Still, the vast silence, limitlessness of this alien place,

Only highlights the rare intimacy of the human race.