To Touch the Sky

What does it mean to touch the sky?

That bright blue ceiling strikes the eye,

But nothing’s really there.

It’s just the atmospheric air,

Which gently thins and dissipates

As I ascend through cloudy gates

And glimpse a solar flare.

Nothing solid – wall or snare –

Will stop my elevating climb

(Neglecting gravity, this time).

The nighttime sky is where

I see the true extent laid bare.

Infinities of dark amass

Above my head. There depths surpass

My sight beneath the glare

Of glassy stars. But don’t despair

Or lose your dreams of touching sky.

Forever reaching, striving, try

Each time, again, with care,

To struggle further forward, where

New realms will dare your eye.

 

 

A few days ago, I thought of the ways we sometimes talk about the sky - as if it's a solid thing that separates the Earth from space. We speak of "touching the sky," but as we reach further and further up, the air just gets thinner and thinner. There's no solid thing to touch. And yet there's value in reaching, in striving to reach higher and higher. At least in my view, life seems to be similar. We always search for greater understanding, higher callings, new discoveries, and better days. While we do not reach perfection, the quest to be better, to be greater than what we are, or to more fully understand our own place in the universe, remains valuable.