A poem about the search for extraterrestrial life, from 1979. Thulcandra is a name for Earth in the Perelandra space trilogy of C.S. Lewis.
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in darkness...
an all-pervasive silence to the eyes,
dotted only by distant gleaming jewels
of hydrogen infernos...
their sanctuary so far
that I could not walk to them
in a million sleepless lifetimes.
so alone...
looking forward to see no cities
or nations or worlds bearing life,
or even an honest promise of it.
I strain with metal ears
to catch the faintest whisper
that never comes...just silence.
to heavens
I reach with open heart
and a prayer of a hope of a dream
of a chance that there is someone there...
someone who hears me...
and is willing to share a dream...
a dream of a destiny beyond Thulcandra.
William F. DeVault. all rights reserved.