Somewhere
on Earth, in a garden
near a path,
which spangle the inside-
petals of a lily
might correspond
exactly
to the positions
of stars in a
distant galaxy
observed
before dawn
on the half-frozen ocean
by a desperate crew
of Atlantic explorers
as a celestial highway
guiding them home.
Even more
impressively, though
no one now living
will ever make
the discovery,
and this hallowed,
symmetrical code
of the universe
will shrivel
and die
when the first
cold wind blows.