When I Consider Your Heavens
(Psalm 8:3-5)
How does it feel to see the sky for the first time?
I never considered the question; an animal
posed it to me.
Of course, I take a sky for granted. I can’t recall
a world without it, without sun or breezes
or tops of trees.
North of here in the woods, a new sanctuary brings
together former lab chimps who were never
allowed outdoors.
The newspaper’s photo caption reads so simply:
Lance, the first chimp to go outside, gazes
up at the sky.
And I stare at the photo, at him.
I wonder what Lance is thinking. Like someone
with new sight, he seems absorbed in awe
of the heavens.
Ape experiments provided easy-to-clean floors
forming the earth and ceiling tiles framing
plain, finite skies.
When I leave work, it’s dark with a partial moon.
I sit in my car, wishing I could talk to Lance
of horizons.
The habitat eventually will let the chimps out
at night. How can anyone be prepared
to witness stars?
Ronnie Sirmans is an Atlanta modern media company’s digital platforms editor whose poetry has appeared in Sojourners, Fathom, Ekstasis, The Windhover, The Clayjar Review, Heart of Flesh, and America: The Jesuit Review, in addition to non-faith-based magazines.
Amethyst Review 
Thought-provoking poem. God didn’t have to make the sky so pretty. I figure it’s meant to be looked at by people and animals.
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