To Baudelaire

"There, everything is order and beauty,
Loveliness, calm and luxury."
Invitation to the Voyage, 1869

Millions of hearts beat as the city sleeps
Soft breathing in the acres of dreams
In the deep darkness of the winter night
I lie awake with a prayer of possibilities
That somehow things might change

This civilization we all belong to
So many millennia in the making
Offers such comforts unimaginable to kings
But never enough to satisfy our whims
Or feed the primal urges to feel free

Free to wander the forest of immortality
Ride on the winged stallion to paradise
Here in the domain of unsatisfied souls
The living earth where each cell grows and dies
In ever complex relationships to the sun

This dominion of the soul was known
To the earliest of men who attached it to the stars
And I too am a slave to it always seeking more
But knowing the moment of the fulfillment
Travels faster than light across the galaxies

With the sound of heartbeats the city sleeps
I lie awake in prayer for the invitation