cassiopeia
Lady from your armchair look
Down indulgently upon
Us your courtiers, and take
Light what whispering you hear
As we shuffle through the night
Far below the atmosphere
Where you, circumpolar, make
Court and home. Judge us on
Our small lies, on the book
That our best intentions write,
On the least emphatic held
Of our several public views:
Leave our certainties aside.
Lady half obscured by cloud
Shift a dark and weary arm,
Roll your chafed wrists. Think how
Centuries ago the wide
Cruel the lashing sea refused
You the same — and you to tell
The difference between two harms —
Took you at your loudest word,
Bound your greatest earthly pride
To a promintory of
Even greater vanity.
Lady then forgive our past
And our present boasting. See
That when time comes, push to shove,
We might meet our neighbor’s eye
Of superiority cured,
Free of ancient chains at last.