Poem – What We Know (By Gil Hoy)

What We Know – By Gil Hoy

It can truthfully

be said that:

regarding all the

world’s matter of which

we think and know,

the whole lot

is infinitely large

and infinitely small.

For a pinhead can—

and does— boast

a whole universe

within it,

and the galaxy is

but a child’s

spinning top.

The same is true

of man’s divine spirit

and eternal reason,

which a wise

man knows

and feels—

for a kind supportive

word can lift a child up

to the heights of Olympus

makes knights in shining

armor and philosopher kings,

but a cold lifeless

word, thrown out in

haste or by design

kills a Mozart

and puts young men

with potential in

already crowded jails.

This thesis holds water

for man’s kindness

and generosity—

but for his pettiness too,

for one will win over a

reluctant smile, kill a

friendship, make

breathless lovers

condemn an idealistic

nation, enlighten a

generation, eviscerate a race

or save a world,

and each—you

must simply choose

as Kierkegaard said—

a stone’s throw ripple

through all of eternity:

an infinite vessel of

space, matter and time

all bound together by

man’s conception of God.

Author Bio:
Gil Hoy is a Boston trial lawyer and is currently studying poetry at Boston University, through its Evergreen program, where he previously received a BA in Philosophy and Political Science. Hoy received an MA in Government from Georgetown University and a JD from the University of Virginia School of Law. He served as a Brookline, Massachusetts Selectman for four terms. Hoy started writing poetry two years ago. Since then, his work has appeared in Third Wednesday, The Write Room, The Eclectic Muse, Clark Street Review, The New Verse News, Harbinger Asylum, Soul Fountain, The Story Teller Magazine, Eye on Life Magazine, Stepping Stones Magazine, The Penmen Review, To Hold A Moment Still (Harbinger Asylum’s 2014 Holidays Anthology), The Zodiac Review, Earl of Plaid Literary Journal, The Potomac, Antarctica Journal, The Montucky Review and elsewhere.