Sacred Depths of the Universe – Poetry by Kathleen Scavone

 Humans have always been
 curious and restless creatures
 enduring untold hardship
 into uncharted seas
 Is it a human instinct
 that necessitates these
 pilgrimages of humankind’s history
 The quest for knowledge
 is a powerful draw-
 As magnetically forceful
 as the fierce drive the
 salmon must feel as it is
 pulled relentlessly
 up the stream to its destiny
 What is there to gain through
 the amazing encounters with
 our solar system’s heavenly bodies
 The beauty and multiplicity
 of the depths of space
 is sacred and wondrous-
 like the miracle of avian migration,
 Or the frail tendrils of a grapevine
 unfurling on an unsuspecting fencepost
 The unsolved nature of comets-
 Some of the most unchanged
 Objects in the solar system
 may surrender long-held secrets
 If we are patient
 Upon close inspection
 Lunar soils sparkle and glitter-
 they beckon us to an in-depth study
 and have stories of times past to impart
 Humankind sits at the precipice of
 discovering the origin of the
 forces that formed our world and
 the exotic worlds beyond.