then the earth itself
might begin to shine differently
its cities bright
not with power—
but with understanding
with knowledge
yet…
if we reached such a moment
how would we guard it
peace cannot truly be locked
inside treaties
it survives only
when those inner lights
P
are tended daily—
when people remember
how easily darkness grows
in neglected corner
even in that careful world
adversaries would linger.
not a nations
not an ideologies—
something older
the restless appetite
that sometimes rises
in the human spirit—
…the desire to possess
…to dominate
…to believe one’s own story
is the center of the earth—
and even then
one truly critical danger would remain—
…not an army
…not a border
…not a cult or ism
only the old shadows
waiting in the human mind—
…envy
…fear
…the hunger for power—
…for more—
resentful covet
restless winds
chaotic winds
winds capable of
extinguishing the small lights
we carry within us
so a peaceful planet
would never be
a finished work—
impossible
Last night the sky over the Pacific Northwest felt unusually clear, as if the brisk night had polished it. I stepped outside with my cane and let the reach of any ambient light fall away, giving the dark its full authority. The night set its gentle embrace upon me. Above my head was a cacophony of lights.
I noticed the stars held solid in their spacing — they endured their endless rank. Somewhere beyond their patient burn, beyond even the thin milk of the visible galaxies — something held everything together. It knew perfectly this brilliant scatter. I sensed an aliveness, felt a breathing presence. I was awed by the essence of the enormity. But save an occasional perceived twinkle, or streak of shooting star, or the slow lit slip of something manmade — all was still.
In Life on Mars, Tracy K. Smith writes of dark matter — the unseen force that keeps galaxies ordered. They say most of the universe is made of what we cannot detect. As if embraced by an invisible hand. I think of the quiet forces in a life — love, joy, sadness, anger. These are all unseen, but they add weight to life. We are held more by what we cannot see, than by what we can.
dark matter holds true galaxies spinning in space the unseen balance
Original DDE™ art: “Endless Highway Blues” — by: rob kistner © 3/6/26.
Original
