Poem: Awe

I wrote this poem over text to a friend one night when I was walking the dog before bed and looking up at the stars.

                   AWE

The airplanes flying overhead

In contrast to my waiting bed

Bespeak no comfort, only awe

And ‘mind me of the sight I saw

The night before, when in the chill

Of falling Winter I stood still

And contemplated yet once more

The wonders which remain in store

The Maker of the stars above

Has promised to bequeath in love

To those who hold him dear at heart

A grander world in which t’ take part

If knowing how enormous all

The stars are makes you feel so small

As to be speechless at the sight

Of brilliant pinpricks in the night

Then let your wide eyes squint in light

Of Him who made both day and night

And whom, like stars, we know in part

Because of the surrounding dark

For that which makes you stare amazed

Is not the spots that color space

But what they say about the source

Who placed and set them on their course

If nature so strikes awe in men

That they revere it, even when

It proves itself an unfit king,

Then what of Him who made all things?

Should not the God of nature too

Strike awe in hearts of men like you?

And unlike nature, God does not

Consider us a ‘pale blue dot’

It’s true He wants you to feel small

When you are deep in nature’s thrall

It’s so that you’ll depend on Him

Since power comes not from within.

I've noticed that the Orion constellation now contains the "scabbard" stars, but when I looked for them all summer I couldn't see them. I wonder if there's an astronomical explanation for this? That perhaps the sky is clearer in the winter and the longer nights means that there is less light and dust pollution that obscures fainter stars. At any rate, despite the cold, I'm enjoying my nighttime walks a lot right now, since the sky is rarely overcast.

~ Rak Chazak