Noel Cobb

Dali's Giraffe

Inside the heart of the burning giraffe, secrets were kept.
Tiny topaz flagons. Unstoppered and sniffed, the scent
Was divine. 'They've cracked the code for DNA!' Dali jeers.

Why is it when Man tries to be God, he becomes Satan?
Suppose our genes do contain our destiny.
What price will the Fates then exact for our meddling?

What if Jews, Christians, Muslims all are wrong?
What if the one-thousand million galaxies we can count
Are all part of a single living dancer? The All.

Then what? When Plotinus died, a snake slipped into
A hole in the wall beneath his bed. He said: 'Try
To bring back the God in us to the Divine in the All.'

What would the world be without beauty? Imagine it.
Once the hedgerows were alive with rustling wings
And chirrupings. Main streets hosted warblers in their trees.

Am I wrong to grieve for the absence of the sparrow?
Should I be 'philosophical', like my Buddhist friend
Who says, 'All things die. Even this world system will burn.'