Sonnet for the Vast Beyond
William Joel
“For my part I know nothing with any certainty,
but the sight of the stars makes me dream.”
~Vincent van Gogh
So many stars I spy at night, yet see,
what if we spun around a different star,
a sun from elsewhere in the galaxy
where points of light fill up the sky, as far
as you can look, so many that they’re there
both night and day. And each one might retain
a world where seeds of life emerge and bear
the fruit of sentience. No, I am not insane.
I know that life is something writ in time,
in galaxies that fill our universe,
where daring reason, taunting rhyme,
new ways are found to be alive, immersed
in foolish dreams that they are all, until
they scan the skies, and souls with wonder fill.
All things are connected. That’s the premise of what William J. Joel does. Each of Mr. Joel’s interests informs each other. Mr. Joel has been teaching computer science since 1983 and has been a writer even longer. His works have appeared in Aliens, Common Ground Review, DASH Literary Journal, and The Blend.