I Am Copernicus

I am Copernicus

having found by careful observation

the center of the universe is

not myself as the Pope

the Church and psychology

would have me believe

I never thought I was the center

The universe was more

a constellation of relationships by

which and in which and through which I

navigated actual time and space

I never thought I was the center

The universe was more

a constellation of relationships by

which and in which and through which I

defined myself the persons and place

I never thought I was the center

The universe was

more a constellation of

relationships by which and in

which and through which I

created reference points

benchmarks and bearings

Associated laws

I admire

an artist and eagerly

wait to meet and befriend this

crafty maker of items for

display and adornment

I enjoy the performance of

a musician and gladly

applaud the antics and music

am happy to chat at a reception before or after

as a friend and lover of the work

I despise the political leader and call him and

his followers names

regardless of any obvious

similarities I share with them

obvious trivial values coincident

in our behavior

from our actions

by our behavior

The artist is a fool and an abusively

antisocial creature happiest with an

inanimate medium whose very substance

bends to the childish will

The musician craves

attention and praise more than

the well-being of others

indifferent to the problems

outside the theater

The politician cares

about the problems of

the community if only a little

Why is my opinion

important at all in any of these cases

Who do I suppose I

am correlative to the artist

the political leader

the popular musician

I am their equal

I am sufficient peer

I desire acknowledgement of that

just so much and no more

Why do I choose

association with the two and not the third

I never thought I was the center

The universe was more a

constellation of relationships about which

I was mistaken

I am still mistaken and only in seeing

now the general condition of deception

and error

of miscommunicated

values from my childhood

do I now

know how

lost I am

Most of my life

had to go by

before I could have realized with certainty

things do not revolve around

me I never

thought I was the center

For I went around the whole matter and

found myself back where I began

discovering after all I was Magellan

knowing where I was

all the time knowing

without knowing anything in

the constellation of relationships glazed

with emotion I mistook

for relevance beside the poignant details