Oh! To be free of earth!
To soar above the clouds
And see a thousand suns and more
In the black night sky;
To see without obstruction.
Oh! To be free of air!
To soar between the earths;
To touch other worlds
And breathe their air;
To see without distortion.
As a child I once feared the sky's portents:
The yellowed, bloody moon;
The immensity of space.
These fears I left behind, but still
As a child
I stare into the skies—
As into a darkened mirror.
The stars, the galaxies,
The countless possibilities;
The light and radiation
And tug-of-war of gravitation:
In them I see a dim reflection
Of myself
And of my Maker.
Oh! To be free of time!
To soar among all that exists
And see all time and space as here and now;
To do away with childish things;
To know without need of sight.
Then—I shall know as I am known.