i
Galileo looked into the night
and learned the truth was an old lie
And he sighed, knowing his fate:
If I write that again Someone will tell the Vatican
ii
Pope on a rope, Lucy in the Sky
Hope is a trope, acid an alibi
Time came unglued and rearranged
Except in Rome, where it is always the same
iii
Galileo wrote his heretic tome
With Pope as the dope thick of dome
But not so obtuse to forget the guards
They brought an offer: soft or hard?
iv
So, for some, the spheres (and spears) remained
But for many it was never explained
Why God controlled the meek
By promising torture to one hell of a geek
Saragun Springs 
One hell of a geek indeed. I like the ‘pope on a rope’ just round his waist and that – not suggesting a noose here. dd
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Hi Diane
Thank you! Oh, yes not the Big Swing for the Pope, but maybe a nice little ride, with a harness, above his fans, like Taylor Swift.
Heard of “soap on a rope” my whole life, don’t think I have ever seen one. Usually as the payoff to a lame prison joke.
Leila
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I have had the acquantence of soap on a rope – I can’t honestly say it was a pleasant thing.
***
the soap on a rope
It gave me hope
something quite cool and divine
But truth to be told
once it was old
I denied that it ever was mine.
the rope became slick
it fair made me sick
and the soap, it was cracky and dry
I won’t have another
it’s not worth the bother
It’s Hand washing liquid I’ll buy.
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Hi Diane
Brilliant! And thank you for doubling the poetry amount for the day!!!
Leila
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Leila
OMG I lOVE THIS POEM! It’s a proof of true gen (which is what Hemingway called pure genius).
The use of Galileo and the Pope as characters is F-ing brilliant!
Astonishing that this poem also contains dozens of other characters – the guards and various enforcers, etc. – as well as MILLIONS of other characters, as in ALL OF Europe, all the world, all humans until today, etc.
This poem brings that time period and the real Galileo to life, while also being about the day and age, the time and era which we are inhabiting right now.
And therefore, the amounts of layers and levels contained in this piece is astonishing. Kind of like how Madame Blavatsky said all the world is layers and levels of everything.
The language usage in this poem also astonishes, the combos of high and low registers, the deliberate use of archaisms and anachronisms, slang and everyday terms applied to the most academic of subjects, the wit and wordplay that is employed and much more!
The individual lines in this piece are also amazing.
One can say that here not even a single syllable, much less a single word, gets wasted.
Regular language is turned up to its highest degree with a light hand that takes the most serious of subjects and plays games with it, like the hand of God herself.
This is the truth of the Good Witch-like brilliance that no one can outdo, or even match.
Gotta run and do my job as a free Uber driver for college kids who need to get across town…more later. (They also expect me to buy them Dunkin Donuts en route.)
Dale
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Hi Dale
Thank you so much! I have been reading Emily D lately in hopes she rubs off.
Ah, Dunkin Donuts. Oh to be 18 again!
Leila
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Leila
The Drifter got a bright idea (rare for his sluggish mind) while driving through the West Side of Chicago (an activity that may be curtailed if Trump sends in the troops).
He (The Drifter) has determined to call his column for this Sunday: “How to Read a Poem;” it shall be a literary column upon the poem “Tell the Pope to Buy a Telescope.” (He’s read it a dozen times already.)
And: The Drifter senses this will be one of the poems which helps to define future anthologies of American poetry and he wants his name associated with this early because it will make him look good in the annals of literary North America.
The column’s stepping stone (or jumping off point) is (was) the poem and your comment on Emily D today.
(The Judge should be informed of this so let him know if you hear from him…)
DWB
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Hi Dale
Outside working on my sunburn (apparently). I want to thank you for this, and I am certain the Judge’s ego will find room for more elevation.
Thanks again!!!
Leila
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PS
I do not eat the donuts any more (usually) but I do drink the coffee….black…
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Hi Leila
This poem reminds me of a Cheryl Crow song. Or that song “One of Us,” by Joan Osborne.
“Galileo wrote his heretic tome” great lines!
Christopher
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Thank you Christopher
I think Galileo got in more hot holy water for his book that depicted the church’s view of space as a dull character named “Simplitico” (or something like that) than anything else. Writing can be dangerous business.
Leila
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