Originally published in Planet Magazine No. 27–28 (September/December 2000).
is the value of science fiction
or the vortex of discarded theory
churning in the great porcelain
bowl of things measured, practical
experience. perhaps. the danger
of this illusion of enlightenment
is endured, like sword swallowing.
is the value an escape to reason,
formed in the hollow of the world
for the purpose of questioning
the old ways, redressing the wrongs
of a previous generation, bright
stabbing light into the darkness
of superstition. science is
great wonder, an approach
to learning that is successful
in the world, and not the list
of things to be remembered.
science invaluable drives out
of fiction, the perilous lives
of the educated in favor of
the rebel, the skeptic, the one
that asks the silly questions
and finds things out. day-dreamer
and outside-of-the-classroom learner,
wondering child that science is.
Poem copyright © 2000 Andy Miller
Illustration copyright © 2001 by Romeo Esparrago
